YuGiOh! GX: With the World on Your Shoulders
by Cypress Tree
Summary: Follow Atlas Michaels and the other students of Duel Academy as they go through trial after trial to protect the notoriously dangerous Duel Academy from the many crises awaiting the young duelists. Contains an enormous amount of fan-made, anime, and manga cards.
1. Atlas the Titan

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Yu-Gi-Oh related**

**Yu-Gi-Oh GX: With the World on Your Shoulders**

"Absolutely not! No amount of money will you earn you the rights to the Spirit Keys!" The Chancellor of Duel Academy sat behind her desk as she glared at her two visitors.

"Let's be reasonable Chancellor Sato, with this amount of money...you would be able to finally -"

"No means no," the Chancellor interrupted.

One of her visitors turned his back to the Chancellor, "Deny us the keys all you want. We were just trying to do this in the easiest and most humane way possible. But believe me...we will get those keys and you'll regret declining our first offer."

"Is that a threat," Chancellor Sato questioned raising an eyebrow.

The visitor turned back to face the Chancellor. "No, it's a warning. You have one month to reconsider. If you decline again we will come back to retrieve the keys...and any damage brought to the school in the process will be on your conscience."

* * *

><p>Atlas waited patiently to be called up for his placement duel while pushing his hand through his dark brown hair. He pulled his deck out for the fourth time since he had been waiting and shuffled through them, going through strategies and counter-strategies in his head sure that there was no way that he could lose his placement duel. He pulled out a container full of cards from his backpack and contemplated trading some cards from it to his deck but decided against it. He repeated the process over and over adding new cards for new strategies until a loud, abrupt voice brought him out of his thoughts.<p>

"Hey I've been trying to talk to you for the past five minutes." The voice belonged to an average built teen, with short black hair who looked a little taller than the average first-year. Atlas looked over at the teen with indifferent dark gray eyes as he closed the container full of cards and placed them back into his backpack.

"What do you want?" Atlas replied coldly.

"Rude, much." The teen replied. "Just someone trying to make small talk, but whatever. If you're going to be so bad-mannered about someone trying to talk to you, then fine." The teen took a seat and placed his attention on the duels. At the moment a blonde haired duelist had just finished off their dueling proctor with an attack from an Airknight Parshath.

Atlas let out an inaudible sigh as he pocketed his deck. "Atlas Michaels," he said as he extended his right hand towards the teen he had apparently just offended.

The teen looked over at him, but instead of taking his hand to shake he just stared dumbfounded. Fortunately, Atlas was use to this though; the last name Michaels was one of the most prominent in the dueling world thanks to his brothers. "The _Atlas Michaels_!" the teen said. "You're one of the top teen duelists not yet in the Pro League." The teen gathered himself back together before speaking again. "That just means now I'll have to beat you to prove I'm top tier, too."

Atlas looked the teen over before mentally deciding that he would probably be nothing me more than a Osiris Oaf. As Atlas began to withdraw his hand the teen took it and shook it vigorously. "Oh by the way the name's Oscar Hayden."

As if by some miracle to get him out of his current situation, Atlas's name appeared on the board, signaling it was time for him to duel. '_Perfect timing_' Atlas thought to himself as he stood up. "Sorry to cut this short, but it's time for me to go win this duel." Atlas promptly walked down the aisle towards the duel field and readied his sleek silver-lined duel disk that his parents had spent top dollar on. He shuffled his deck quickly then slid it into the deck slot on his duel disk.

The duel proctor standing across from him was a male short in stature with pale skin and shoulder length violet hair. "My name is Professor Banks." The proctor said as he readied his duel coat. "And you're Atlas Michaels, next rising star of the Michaels family." Professor Banks said before Atlas was even able to introduce himself. "But enough of the introductions, you're here to duel."

Duel

(Banks: 4000)

(Atlas: 4000)

As they drew five cards, Professor Banks decided to take the leading by drawing a sixth card. "Remember these decks are premade examination decks, so for a duelist rising to the top it shouldn't be too hard. And with that being said I'll start by summoning Red Gadget (1300/1500) in defense position, which when summoned allows me to add a Yellow Gadget from my deck to my hand."

A mechanized red creature appeared on the field kneeling with its arms crossed over its chest. Just as the monster was summoned, the proctor's duel jacket shot out the specified card into the proctor's hand.

"Now I'll set two cards and call it a turn." The proctor announced as he slid two cards into his duel disk causing two face-down cards to appear behind Red Gadget.

Atlas calmly drew a card as he surveyed his hand. As much as his parents tried to mold Atlas, there was one thing that he wouldn't let them touch: his deck. '_Now to show them the power of a Divine Duelist' _Atlas thought to himself as he pulled out a card from his hand. "First I'll activate the magic of the spell card Double Summon." Two pillars of light shone down on his field as he plucked two more cards from his deck ready to use them. "Now I'll summon Divine Hero Odysseus (1700/1500) and Divine Hero Theseus (2400/1600) both in attack mode."

Two muscular warriors donned in golden armor busted out of the pillars in fighting stances. The one named Odysseus wielded a large claymore in both hands, while Theseus held a short dagger in one hand and golden rope in the other hand.

"So you use the rare Divine Heroes. Their powerful, but how did you summon Theseus? Having 2400 attack points I'm sure he's above level four." The professor scratched his cheek as he asked the question. '_I'll definitely have my hands full with this one_' the proctor thought as he eyed the two monsters.

Immediately Atlas began to explain how he was able to summon the level six Divine Hero Theseus to answer the proctor's question. "Since I controlled a Divine Hero monster on my field I was able to summon my Divine Hero Theseus without a tribute." A slight smirk graced Atlas's face as he got ready to explain his other monster's effect. "Also, Odysseus gains 100 attack points for each Divine Hero on the field. And since I control two, his attack rises to 1900." (Odysseus: 1900/1500)

"Now I'll have Theseus attack your Red Gadget and Odysseus will go in for a direct attack." Murmurs went through the crowd, as people wondered why he was attacking with the stronger monster. Suddenly Theseus threw the golden rope at the robot and pulled forcing it into a fighting position, but before the weaker monster had a chance to launch a counterattack, Theseus already had his dagger placed through the robot's midsection. The red automaton exploded into millions of pixels as the professor's life points took a hit (Banks: 2900).

"Before you ask what just happened, let me explain. Theseus allows me to change the battle position of a monster he attacks which means he was changed to attacked position, and you took damage accordingly." Moments after Atlas was done explaining, Odysseus launched across the duel field with the giant claymore in hand, but before it could connect, a bright yellow robot crouching defensively similar to the red one that had just been destroyed causing Odysseus to stop in his tracks.

"What just happened?" Atlas questioned as he glanced at the newly summoned monster.

"Simple. I just activated Ultimate Offering, which allows me to pay 500 life points to summon during either my main phase or your battle phase." Banks motioned over to his now revealed continuous trap card (Banks: 2400). "And I used its ability to summon Yellow Gadget (1200/1200) which allows me to bring a Green Gadget from my deck to my hand." A card slid out of Professor Baker's deck as he snatched it up.

"Well, I'll just have Odysseus attack your Yellow Gadget." The highly armored warrior readied his blade, but was quickly pacified as a wave of light blue energy washed over Atlas's field.

"I activate my other face-down trap card, Pacification. Since a monster on my field has been destroyed on the field this turn through battle, and I control a monster on the field, I can end your battle phase." The proctor explained as Atlas looked at the now face-up trap card that depicted an Invitation to a Dark Sleep casting a spell over a sleeping Berserk Gorilla.

"Well I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn." Atlas placed two of the three remaining cards in his hand into his duel disk.

Professor Banks drew a card bringing his hand count to five. "It's time to summon Green Gadget (1400/600) and now I can add my second Red Gadget to my hand." The last robot of the gadget trio appeared in defense position as his deck shot a card once again into the professor's hand.

"Now I'll activate Ultimate Offering to summon once more." The proctor let out a slight chuckle as his life points decreased (Banks: 1900). "Now I'll sacrifice both Yellow Gadget and Green Gadget to summon a new beast. With the birth of intelligence comes overwhelming technology. Come forth, envoy of industry, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon (3000/2000)!"

The two gadgets started to grind together as a mechanized dragon materialized in front of the small, pale professor. The gadgets pulled in their arms and legs and fit into appropriate outlets on the dragon. The dragon let out a bone rattling roar that caused Atlas and his monsters to go on guard.

"I'll have Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon attack Divine Hero Theseus with Mechanized Crunch!" The large robotic dragon launched at the dagger wielding warrior, but right before the two could fight it out, Odysseus pushed Theseus out of the way and was destroyed instead (Atlas: 3600).

"I guess it's time to explain," Atlas deadpanned. "When a Divine Hero would be destroyed while Odysseus is on the field, I can destroy him instead, which means my Theseus is safe for another turn."

"If that's the case, then I'll activate Tribute to the Doomed. By sending one card from my hand I can send your Theseus to the graveyard." Mummified hands out reached from the ground and dragged the dignified hero into the ground. "Now you can't attack with Theseus and change my dragon to defense position. With that I'll end my turn."

Unperturbed, Atlas drew a card bringing him to a total of two cards. He slid one of the cards into his duel disk as a green framed card with golden coins raining on grateful citizens appeared face-up in front of him. "I activate the spell, Card of Sanctity. Now each of us can draw until we hold six cards." Professor Banks drew four cards, while Atlas drew five. He surveyed his freshly drawn cards as he pulled one free.

"I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light!" Six swords made of pure light flew from the ceiling and surrounded the professor as Atlas pulled his next card free.

"Next I'll summon Divine Hero Medea (1500/1500) in defense position." A woman with bright red hair and wearing a golden dress appeared crouching defensively on Atlas's side of the field and holding a gnarled wooden staff. "Now I'll call it a turn."

Right after Atlas declared the end of his turn Medea lifted up her staff and shot a blast of dark energy straight at the professor (Banks: 1700). "Oh by the way, Medea hits you for 100 points of damage for each Divine Hero in my graveyard."

'_I have the strongest monster, yet he's still able to stall and maintain his lead. I guess he really is like his brothers.' _The professor quickly shook his head of his thoughts and brought his attention back to the duel at hand. He swiftly drew a card bringing his hand to an impressive seven.

"I summon my second Red Gadget!" Just like before, a little-gear-looking robot appeared on the professor's field and another card spat out of the professor's deck into his hand. "Now I'll activate the effect of Ultimate Offering to pay another 500 points and gain an extra summon. Now I'll sacrifice Red Gadget to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera (2300/1300)." The gadget started to whir like its brothers before as a three-headed metal behemoth appeared with the gadget fitting in between the three heads (Banks: 1200).

"Now I activate the spell card Mystical Typhoon to destroy your Swords of Revealing Light." A strong gust of wind blew around the professor causing the swords to start to rattle and begin to crack, but the wind suddenly diverted and hit the trap card Ultimate Offering, effectively blowing it away.

"Sorry not today." Atlas looked on uninterested as one of his face-downs was now revealed showing a card that had a scene of a mirror reflecting a blast of water coming at it. "My face-down card was Reversal Mirror, which redirected your Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Ultimate Offering."

The professor, unsurprised that his move was turned against him continued on with his turn. "Well I'll just activate Restructer Revolution to inflict 200 damage to you for each card in your hand and since you have five that's 1000 points of damage." Five hologram swords plowed towards Atlas who unflinchingly took the damage (Atlas: 2600).

"Now I'll activate the ability of my face-down spell card, Copy Spell. Now it copies the effect of Restructer Revolution, so that's another 1000 points of damage." Once again five swords drove their way through as his Life Points dropped drastically (Atlas: 1600). "And with that, I'll call it a turn." The professor said finally satisfied.

Atlas drew his card and sighed. "I believe this duel has gone on long enough. I activate Monster Reborn to revive Divine Hero Theseus (2400/1600)." A bright light erupted from the ground as Theseus emerged again. "And as great as these two heroes are, I'll be sacrificing them for something much more powerful."

Both Medea and Theseus became bright lights and shot towards the ceiling and become one light. "Only the mighty have what it takes to become a hero, and still only the divine can become godly. A hero's work is never done. Appear, achiever of efforts, Divine Hero Heracles (2600/2000)!" The bright light floating in the air shot down on ground forming a bright pillar of light right in front Atlas. In a strong gust of wind the light dissipated and the newly summoned monster was summoned.

A bulky man that easily stood at seven feet tall in bright gold and silver armor was now glaring down both of the mechanical monstrosities on the professor's field. The most noticeable feature about the hero was that unlike all the other one's Atlas had so far summoned, this one had no weapon.

"Now I'll activate the spell card Bloodlust. Now by selecting a monster on my side of the field, that monster can now attack all monsters on your field once." Atlas explained as a bright red aura appeared around Heracles.

"Well that's all good and all, but my dragon has the highest attack on the field right now." The professor said as he voiced the thoughts of many of the confused audience members.

"We'll see. Heracles attack Ancient Gadjiltron Chimera." The bulky warrior launched at an incredibly fast speed at the mechanical atrocity, but before he landed an attack on the monster, his muscles started to bulge and he started to glow a bright gold (Heracles: 3200/2000). The hero then launched a devastating punch completely obliterating Ancient Gadjiltron Chimera (Banks: 300).

"You see, when Heracles attacks a monster, he gains attack equal to the monster's level times 100." Heracles then diverted his attention towards the dragon. "And this boosts lasts until the end phase and activates _each_ time he attacks. Take out Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon and end this duel with Herculean Punch!"

Heracles leapt above the dragon and his fist glowed a bright gold as his attack increased (Heracles: 4000/2000). The mechanical creature prepared for a counterattack, but before it was able to do anything, Heracles punched straight through it like a golden meteor.

(Banks: 0)

(Atlas: 1600)

End Duel

"Unexciting." Atlas said as he walked away from the duel field while pocketing his deck.

'_And just as rude as his brothers as well.' _The professor thought as he scratched his head.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I would like to apologize in advance, as the first few chapters will focus more on introducing important characters. But don't worry the action will pick up soon!<strong>

Cards of the Duel:

Atlas Michaels:

Divine Hero Heracles - Lv 8, Light, Warrior, 2600/2000

When this card attacks a monster, it gains ATK equal to the level of the attacked monster times 100 until the End Phase.

Professor Banks:

Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon - Lv 8, Earth, Machine, 3000/2000

If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. This card gets extra effectsif you Tribute Summon it by Tributing ● Green Gadget: During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whoseDEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference asBattle Damage to your opponent. ● Red Gadget: When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, inflict 400 damage to your opponent. ● Yellow Gadget: If this card destroys your opponent's monster by battle, inflict 600 damage to your opponent.

_It's no surprise that Atlas passed his duel examination to be registered into Duel Academy, but what is a surprise is what or who he will be sharing his room with for the year. Catch the next chapter, Three-Faced._


	2. Three Faced

Atlas smiled to himself as he adjusted the Obelisk Blue jacket that he had been assigned. As he was a freshman, the primary color was blue with trimming. '_Of course I got in,_' Atlas thought to himself as he placed his family issued due disk on his desk and donned the Obelisk Blue duel disk, '_I deserved to._' The new duel disk was much chunkier than his other sleek duel disk, but that's okay. He wanted to start fresh here, and not have anything that could have someone tie him back to his family.

'_Finally, no more riding on my family name.'_ Atlas thought while examining the new duel disk. '_People might still recognize me, but at least now I can forge my own path. And maybe...just maybe people will stop comparing me to my brothers.'__  
><em>

As he looked around the luxurious room he noticed something wrong. There were two beds in there instead of only one. '_I'll make sure to have it removed before the end of the night,_' he made a mental note as he plopped down into the bed farthest to the right. He took the duel academy issued duel disk off and plopped down into bed, contemplating whether to go take a nap or go explore the campus. He decided taking a nap and started to doze off.

*BANG*

The door opened wildly, startling Atlas. He looked up confused to see a thin teen around his height with spiked red hair standing at the doorway. He had headphones in his ear, but even still Atlas could hear the loud rock music blaring from them. As soon as the teen eyed Atlas he gained a scowl. "What are you doing in _my _room?" He asked approaching Atlas somewhat threateningly as he took his headphones out.

"Your room? That's funny, if you look on my acceptance sheet; it clearly says that Room 102 D in this here dormitory belongs to me." Atlas looked over at the other bed before groaning out loud. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless this room is meant to be a double." Atlas scrunched up his forehead at the idea of having to live with this guy. "Damn it," he said inaudibly.

"What?" The red-headed teen questioned loudly. "Obelisk Blue's don't _share_ rooms. There must be some sort of mistake. You must have been in another room, or maybe you're really a Osiris Oaf and they accidentally placed you in my room."

Atlas's face darkened at the degrading name of being called a Osiris Oaf. "Maybe I'm a _what_ now?" He questioned while glaring daggers at his soon to be roommate.

"A Osiris Oaf. You know, maybe you belong to Osiris R—"

"Or maybe _you_ belong in a grave!" Atlas barked angrily.

"Whoa, whoa calm down," the teen said while he held his hands up defensively, "no need to get all testy."

Atlas stood up approaching the teen. "_You_ are the one that had the nerve to call _me _a Osiris Oaf. I assure you that I'm ten times the duelist you are," Atlas said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Well there's only one way to settle this," the redhead replied. "And since we _are_ at Duel Academy, I'm pretty sure you know what that way is," the teen said with a sinister smirk on his face.

"You want a duel? Well promise me you won't feel too disheartened when I crush you," Atlas said matter-of-factly.

The two teens made their way from the dorms to the Obelisk Blue's multiple duel fields. Once there they activated their duel disks and inserted their decks into their disks. "Oh and I guess it's proper for us to introduce ourselves, if we are going to be," the redhead paused as if something was stuck in his throat. "Roomies," he finished.

"I guess you're right," Atlas unenthusiastically agreed. "The name's Atlas Michaels. And yours?"

The teen scratched his head as he now recognized the powerful duelist. "My name's Dalton Reese and you better remember it because one day it's going to be more famous than yours."

Duel

(Dalton: 4000)

(Atlas: 4000)

"I'll take the lead," Dalton said as he slid six cards of the top of his deck with one motion. "I'll start by summoning Hunter Dragon (1700/100) in attack position." Dalton slapped the card on his duel disk as a dark dragon with a hooked metallic tail appeared on the field in front of him. "Now I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

Atlas only shrugged as he drew a card. "I'll summon Divine Hero Jason (1600/1200) in defense position." A lean warrior holding a small sword appeared kneeling in front of Atlas. "And just like you I'll play one card face-down."

"A defensive play? I hate defensive plays. I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack position." A primarily blue dragon with a tan underbelly and a long mouth coming to a sharp point hovered to field in front of Dalton. "Go Spear Dragon, pierce through that warrior." The dragon flew up in the air then tucked its wings in as it nosedived straight towards Jason.

"Hold it," Atlas interrupted. "I activate my face-down trap card, Aid of the Argonauts." A small band of warriors erupted on Atlas's side of the field. They shouted and banged their weapons causing the dragon to retreat to Dalton's side of the field. "When Divine Hero Jason is on the field and I activate Aid of the Argonauts, it negates your attack and lets me special summon Divine Hero Argonauts (1200/800) from my deck to my side of the field. But that's not it because it also immediately ends your battle phase." Right after Atlas finished explaining, Jason sliced his sword through the air causing a wave of bright energy to collide with Dalton (Dalton: 3700).

"Another effect," Dalton questioned.

"Every time an attack is negated while Jason is face-up on the field, you take 300 points of damage." Atlas said with a smirk on his face.

"Well then I'll just end my turn," Dalton said irritably.

Atlas gave a bored expression as he drew a card from his deck. "You know, I thought that with this duel would be a lot more exciting." He grabbed a card from his hand and placed it into the back row of his duel disk. "I activate The A. Forces, and now with this card on the field, warriors on my side of the field gain 200 attack for each other warrior and spellcaster that I control," Atlas as both Divine Heroes attacks rose by 400 (Divine Hero Jason: 2000/1200, Divine Hero Argonauts: 1600/800).

"Now I'll switch Jason to attack mode and have him lay waste to your Spear Dragon." The lightly armored warrior lithely jumped towards the dragon preparing to strike a fatal blow.

"You really don't think I am going to let that happen do you?" Dalton laughed as his face-down card flipped face-up showing a Cannon Soldier helping a Mechanicalchaser defend from an oncoming blast. "Go Covering Fire! Now I can increase the attack of Spear Dragon by the attack of my Hunter Dragon!"

Both of Dalton's dragons opened their maws to prepare a counterattack. Spear Dragon released a gale of wind while Hunter Dragon released a black flame (Spear Dragon: 3600/0). The two attacks collided with the oncoming warrior incinerating him completely (Atlas: 2400).

Atlas tensed as fire and wind licked away at his life points. '_I can't believe I walked right into that. Guess I'll have to turn up the heat a tad_,' Atlas thought as he took a card from his hand as Divine Hero Argonauts (1400/800) attack decreased. "I'll place one card face-down, switch Divine Hero Argonauts to defense mode, and call it a turn."

"My move," Dalton continued as he drew a card. "Now I sacrifice my two dragons to summon an even greater one." Spear Dragon and Hunter Dragon erupted in flames as the flames gathered together taking shape of a large creature. As the flames pulled back a shiny black and red dragon with large spikes jetting out of its back was revealed. "I give you Diablo Dragon (2700/1000)."

'_That must be his ace_,' Atlas thought to himself as the large dragon roared.

"Now Diablo Dragon, attack the Argonauts with Diabolical Screech." The dragon's head reared back as it generated a large amount of energy within its mouth. It faced its attention back towards Atlas's lone monster and let out a horrendous screech imbued with dark energy, but right before the attack could connect the Argonauts all put up their shields taking the attack. Dalton scratched his head and looked towards Atlas, "What did you pull now?"

"Well once per turn when you declare an attack, I can negate it as long as Divine Hero Argonauts remains face-up on the field." Atlas explained, not noticing Dalton add a card from his deck to his hand due to Diablo Dragon's ability.

"Well I'll just have to call it a turn," Dalton said seemingly disappointed that his attack didn't go through.

Atlas snatched a card from his deck and eyed it quickly. '_Perfect_' he thought to himself. "Since I have a Divine Hero face-up, I'm allowed to summon this guy without a tribute. I summon Divine Hero Theseus (2400/1600) in attack position." As Atlas placed the card on his deck, a warrior in golden armor leapt to the field holding golden rope and a dagger. Both warriors on Atlas's side of the field started to glow a faint blue as their attacks increased (Divine Hero Theseus: 2800/1600, Divine Hero Argonauts: 1600/800).

"Now I'll switch Divine Hero Argonauts to attack position and start my assault. Divine Hero Theseus, take out Diablo Dragon." The marvelous warrior threw his golden rope around the dragon's neck and tugged at it forcing it to come barreling towards the warrior. As the dragon attempted to fight back Theseus placed multiple stab wounds in the struggling dragon, effectively destroying it (Dalton: 3600).

"Now go Argonauts, hit him directly." The multitude of warriors all brandished their weapons and stampeded towards Dalton; kicking, punching, and stabbing away at him until they were content (Dalton: 2000).

"Now that's what I call a move," Atlas said arrogantly as he looked towards his opponent's empty field. "Took out your strongest monster and dealt a hefty chunk of damage."

Dalton drew a card and quirked an eyebrow. "Strongest card? Oh you're referring to Diablo Dragon. That's not my strongest dragon," he laughed as he looked over his hand. "It's merely support to help get out my strongest." Dalton pulled free a card from his hand of six cards. A wide grin spread across Dalton's face as he slammed the card into his back row. "I activate Polymerization, and now I'll fuse the three Hydra Heads (1000/1000) in my hand."

Atlas could only watch as a swirling vortex opened above Dalton's side of the field as three serpentine black dragons with leathery wings flew into the vortex.

"Tempered rage will bring the world to its knees! Witness the creation of a godly beast! Fusion Summon, an unstoppable force, Hydra Dragoon (3000/3000)."

Three massive heads with silver spikes protruding from them started to emerge from the vortex each of them hissing and snapping at each other. As the more and more of the monster became visible, it was now noticeable that heads of the dragon converged into one long, serpentine body with scarlet red, leathery wings. The dragon coiled around Dalton's entire field. Although Atlas thought Diablo Dragon to be big, this creature was massive.

"This right here is my_ strongest_ monster," Dalton cackled as he pulled another card free from his hand. "Now I'll activate Dragonic Intimidation. Now with this card, I can negate the effect of one monster on the field since I control a high-leveled dragon, and I choose Divine Hero Argonauts." All three of the dragon heads roared loudly as the band of warriors on Atlas's side of the field shrunk back in fear.

Dalton leveled his hand at Atlas's side of the field as Hydra Dragoon readied itself. "Plus Hydra Dragoon can attack all monsters you control." Go Hydra Dragoon blast away both of his monsters with Venomous Assault!" The left and right heads fired toxic green blasts of high powered gas blasting away both of Atlas's monsters in mere seconds (Atlas: 600).

Atlas drew a card as he smirked. '_Hmm, h__e's better than I thought. Welp, I guess that is why he's in Obelisk Blue_,' Atlas thought to himself as he browsed over his hand. "Time to get serious," he muttered under his breath for only him to hear. He drew a card bringing his hand to a total of four cards. "I activate Pot of Greed allowing me to draw two cards." A malicious, green smiling pot appeared then shattered as Atlas pulled free two cards from his deck.

"Now I'll set two cards face-down and summon Epic Teller (1000/1000) in defense position." A frail, elderly man covered in tattered robes holding a leather-bound book. Moments after the man was summoned he opened the book which released a bright light as Atlas pulled out his deck and grabbed a card. "When Epic Teller is summoned, I can add one Divine Hero from my deck to my hand," Atlas explained as he added the card to his hand. "Now I'll end it there."

Before Atlas could even finish his last sentence, Dalton sliced a card from his hand. He looked at it for a fraction of a second then slammed it on to his duel disk. "Come out, Projectile Wyvern (800/400)." A small green and white dragon shaped like a lance appeared next to its much larger comrade. "Go Hydra Dragoon, destroy Epic Teller!"

The middle head of the large dragon released an intense blast of toxic gas straight onto the old man. The already frail man coughed as the poison caused his body to deteriorate into nothingness. "Now Projectile Wyvern, attack directly and end this." The small dragon zipped forwards towards Atlas at an incredible speed with full intent on ending the duel. The dragon slammed right into Atlas causing him to stagger back, but instead of his life points decreasing, they stayed the same (Atlas: 600) and he drew a card bringing his hand to a total of four. "Explain!" Dalton shouted baffled.

Atlas pointed over to his face-up trap card and let out a chuckle. "The card I just activated is Defense Draw. Now all damage you would've dealt is reduced to zero and I get to draw a card," the Divine Duelist explained as the trap card faded away.

"Fine, I'll just end my turn with a face-down. Oh, and just to let you know, when Projectile Wyvern is sent from my field to the Graveyard, you take 800 points of damage, which means…" Dalton trailed off as Atlas drew another card signifying the beginning of his turn.

"Since you control monsters on the field and I don't, I can summon this hero to the field without having to sacrifice a monster. So now I'll summon Divine Hero Achilles in defense position (1800-2000/0)." A sturdy looking hero wearing barely any armor on and holding a long blade appeared in front of Atlas.

"Now I'll activate the spell card Trojan Gift. With this I can give you Divine Hero Achilles." A small wooden horse appeared before Achilles who then jumped onto its back. The horse then proceeded to go Dalton's side of the field and stop. Before Dalton could even ask why his opponent would give him the only monster he had to defend, Achilles swiftly sliced Dalton across the chest with his sword causing him to gasp in surprise(Dalton: 200).

"Trojan Gift forces you take damage equal to the original attack of the monster I gave to you, plus if the sent monster was Divine Hero Achilles, then I can draw one card." With the effect explained Atlas drew a card from his deck and eyed it. "Now I'll end my turn, and at the end of a turn where Achilles is sent to my opponent's field, he returns."

Achilles jumped back over to Atlas's side of the field right as Dalton drew a card vigorously. Not even looking at the card went straight on to the offensive. "Projectile Wyvern, slice through that warrior!" Without hesitation the little dragon launched across the field coming into contact with Achilles but failing to break through the warrior.

"Oh by the way, Achilles can't be destroyed in battle," Atlas mentioned as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Why can't you just stay down," Dalton said in an irritated tone. "I was hoping to take you down in a more flashy way, but this way will do too, I activate Share the Pain. Now both of us must tribute a monster on our side of the field. I'll tribute Projectile Wyvern, and you must tribute Divine Hero Achilles since it's the only monster you control," Dalton said excitedly.

Two swords materialized over Projectile Wyvern and Divine Hero Achilles. Both of the monsters looked up causing the swords to lunge straight into them causing both monsters to deteriorate.

"And I hope you've remembered that when Projectile Wyvern is sent to the Graveyard, you take 800 points of damage," Dalton laughed as a piece of shrapnel flew from the spot where Projectile Wyvern had just been.

"Trust me. I didn't forget," Atlas whispered as he motioned towards his set card. "Go Energy-Absorbing Monolith!" As the trap card flipped face-up a stone tablet appeared in front of Atlas. "Now that effect damage is instead given to me as life points." The shrapnel hit the table causing a burst of energy to come out of the opposite side rejuvenating Atlas (Atlas: 1400).

"Fine, I'll end my turn," Dalton said angrily.

'_That was close_,' Atlas thought to himself, '_if he hadn't been so caught up with ending me in a "flashy" way and activated Share the Pain first, I would've been left wide open for Hydra Dragoon to finish me off, well that is if I hadn't already prepared for that either_.' Atlas drew a card and sighed as the final card he needed to win the duel was placed in his hand.

"Well as fun as this has been, it's time we end this," Atlas said calmly. "Thanks to the life point increase you gave me, I can activate Premature Burial to revive Divine Hero Achilles by paying 800 life points." A spot on Atlas's side of the erupted in a bright light as Achilles returned to the field (Atlas: 600).

"Oh please, that's hardly going to stop me," Dalton laughed.

"He's not meant to. Now I'll equip him with Grade Sword which increases his attack by 300 _and _allows him to count as two tributes when I sacrifice him for a warrior type monster (Divine Hero Achilles: 1800-2000-2300/0)," Atlas explained as he pulled the next card free. "Now I'll sacrifice Divine Hero Achilles to bring out the strongest."

Divine Hero Achilles erupted into light as he was prepared to be used as a tribute.

"Only the mighty have what it takes to become a hero, and still only the divine can become godly. A hero's work is never done. Appear, achiever of efforts, Divine Hero Heracles (2600-2800/2000)!" Atlas slammed the named card onto his duel disk as Achilles was replaced with a much more muscular warrior.

"Go, Divine Hero Heracles attack Hydra Dragoon with Herculean Punch!" Dalton laughed as Atlas declared the attack.

"A suicide attempt—" Dalton was cut off as Atlas continued.

"And when Heracles attacks a monster, he gains attack equal to the monsters level times 100, and since that dragon is a level nine monster…well just watch." Dalton's face dropped as Atlas finished explaining. Atlas's mighty monster launched forward at Dalton's wicked dragon with a glowing fist (Divine Hero Heracles: 2800-3700/2000).

Hydra Dragoon reacted with all three heads releasing its foul gas towards Heracles, but the divine warrior blasted straight through the gas and punched straight through the monster's chest destroying it and the rest of Dalton's life points.

(Dalton: 0)

(Atlas: 600)

End Duel

A cheer erupted from around the two duelists as they realized that their duel had brought quite a crowd consisting of people from all dorms to watch. Atlas turned towards Dalton with a cold look on his face, "I told you and I'll tell you again. I am no Osiris Oaf."

Atlas walked away keeping up a cool front despite the thoughts going through his head. '_I'm going to have to watch out for that one_.'

* * *

><p>Cards of the Duel:<p>

Atlas Michaels:

Divine Hero Achilles - Lv 8, Earth, Warrior, 1800/0

If you don't control a monster and your opponent does, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing. This card cannot be destroyed by battle. When control of this card is switched, control of the card is returned to you during the End Phase.

Dalton Reese:  
>Hydra Dragoon - Lv 9, Dark, Dragon, 30003000

Hydra Head + Hydra Head + Hydra Head  
>This card can attack each monster your opponent controls once. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon as many "Hydra Heads" from your Graveyard that you can.<p>

_With a roommate who possesses a similar dueling skill level as Atlas, the titan-named duelist is in for quite a year. But the Obelisk Blue dormitories aren't the only ones that contain powerhouses. Catch the next chapter, Wrapped in Red.  
><em>


	3. Wrapped in Red

Oscar rushed to class with his wrinkled Osiris blazer not even all the way on. It was only the first day of class and Oscar was already more than thirty minutes late for his first class. Sweat formed on his brow as he passed the cafeteria nearing the classroom he needed to be in.

Not even thinking of slowing down, Oscar burst through the doors interrupting the teacher midsentence and causing all the students to turn to see to cause of the commotion. Oscar blushed a bright red that almost matched his unkempt Osiris uniform while many of his fellow classmates pointed and laughed at him.

'_Just like I thought. He'd be nothing but a Osiris Oaf,'_ Atlas smirked as he watched the Osiris student fumble around looking for a seat. And as if by some cruel chance of fate, or at least that's how Atlas perceived it, Oscar looked in hi s general direction and noticed the empty seat next to the elitist Obelisk Blue. Oscar smiled while Atlas cursed himself for not hiding his face from the Osiris student. Oscar clumsily shuffled past other students as he made his way to the seat.

Atlas let out an inaudible sigh as Oscar plopped down right beside him. "So what did I miss?" Oscar asked as he pulled out a few crumpled pieces of paper and a pen missing its cap to take notes with.

"Only the syllabus," Atlas replied quickly hoping that Oscar would have nothing else to say after that. Unfortunately for Atlas it wasn't. For the rest of class, Oscar bombarded him with questions about his brothers (much to Atlas's disdain) and what it was like to be famous. Atlas bit back his tongue struggling from just telling the eager Osiris the just shut up.

Class went by and when the teacher the class, Atlas attempted to get out of dodge but failed miserably as Oscar followed his every step not missing a beat.

It wasn't long until Atlas stood in front of the Obelisk Blue dormitories with Oscar still accompanying him.

"It looks like someone went slumming," came a callus voice to the right of Atlas and Oscar.

Atlas snapped his head to the origin of the insult then snarled his face in disgust when he found who he was looking for. The culprit was a tall, pale boy with jet black hair wearing an oversized Obelisk Blue jacket.

"Haven't I seen you before?" Atlas asked coldly. "Oh right…weren't you the star from The Nightmare Before Christmas?"

"Oh, how original! I've only heard that one a million times," the skeleton like boy retorted, "and the name is actually Walter Whitley."

"Well Walter Whitley, you have no business insulting me based on the people I'm around, _especially_ when said person has been following me around like a lost puppy." Atlas looked on with distaste at the slender Obelisk.

"Wait," Oscar interjected confusedly, "are you guys talking about me." Oscar scratched his head starting to finally get what was finally going on.

"Bravo genius. You're finally getting a clue." Walter clapped as he taunted Oscar. "Aren't you that Oscar kid that interrupted class today? Wow, you really are an idiot."

Atlas could visibly see the change in Oscar's mood as his face darkened and permanent smile turned into a frown. Atlas knew exactly how this situation would be resolved, which meant he'd have a chance to escape from the bag of bones donned in blue and the dimwit wrapped in red.

"Look creep," Oscar said while unzipping his backpack and taking out his duel disk, "you don't even know me and you have the nerve to judge me based on the color of my jacket!"

"Um…yeah, that's kind of what the different colored jackets are for. Allow us to determine who's good," Walter spit while looking Oscar up and down, "and who's just pathetic."

"I'll have you know the only reason I'm not wearing the same color as you is because I'm not the greatest test taker!" Oscar's face started to turn a beet red. "It's true that I barely passed the written test and that I chocked during the duel exam, but I can still knock some sense into you."

Walter laughed as he pulled out his own duel disk. "Well Oli-boy, let's put your words to the _test_."

Duel

(Oscar: 4000)

(Walter: 4000)

Oscar grinned as both his and Walter's duel disks activated . "Well, I plan to show you Obelisks what Osiris like me can do." He smirked as he drew six from his deck indicating he was taking the first move.

"I'll start by summoning Oshaleon (1400/800) in attack position." As Oscar placed the card on his duel disk an odd multicolored chameleon with white stars on its body appeared in front of him. "Now I'll end my turn."

"What a pathetic first move!" Walter exclaimed as his pale fingers snagged a card from the top of his deck. "I'll show you a real move. Now I summon Blood Drain Knight (1900/0)!"

A skeletal warrior wielding a sword made of what appeared to be a spinal cord leapt out of the ground in front of Walter. "But it doesn't end there, because now he's gonna attack your overgrown lizard."

The boney warrior dashed across the field of an astounding speed and brought the blade through the quirky chameleon destroying it quickly (Oscar: 3500). "And if you thought it was over there, then you're dumber than you look, because now I activate my knight's ability. By paying 400 Life Points I can now inflict damage to you equal to the level of the monster he just destroyed multiplied by 300."

Blood appeared to flow from Walter to his knight as his Life Points dropped (Walter: 3600). The knight then swung his blade causing multiple shards of bone to fly straight through Oscar (Oscar: 2600). "Now I'll leave you with a face-down and let you continue showing us your pathetic dueling skills."

"Pathetic? Ha, that's funny." Oscar laughed as he drew a card. "Well while you were so wrapped up in activating your monster's effect, you didn't notice the effect of Oshaleon activated when you knight destroyed him which allowed me to add a reptile from my deck with less than 500 attack from my deck to my hand," Oscar smirked as he held his hand of seven.

"Oh, I'm so scared. What did you add to your hand, a gecko or maybe a baby field snake. Haha, what could a monster with only 500 attack do?" Walter replied as a toothy girn showcased his pearly white teeth.

"Let me show you! I summon the card I added to my hand, Gigobyte (350/300)." A small green, humanoid crocodile creature appeared in front of Oscar.

Both Atlas and Walter had to keep their jaws from dropping from looking at the puny, green creature Oscar just summoned to the field. '_What could he possibly be planning to do with that,'_ Atlas thought to himself as he found himself wrapped in the duel instead of leaving like he planned originally.

"Next I activate the continuous spell card Crocodile Feeding Grounds. Now once per turn, I can send one level four or lower reptile from my deck to increase the attack of a reptile monster I control." As Oscar activated the card, his side of the field started to transform to a marsh with shallow water and reeds. "So now I'll send my Lion Alligator (1900/200) from my deck to the graveyard to power up Gigobyte. Go ahead buddy, feeding time." The green reptile noticed a ripple in the water to his left then dived. There was some thrashing and splashing for a few seconds before Gigobyte rose from the water empowered (2250/300).

"Gigobyte, go tear that bone…thing to shreds with Ferocious Bite!" The pumped up crocodile lunged across the field aiming straight for the Blood Drain Knight.

"Predictable," Walter said with a mild tone. "I activate my face-down Rush Recklessly to increase the attack of my knight by 700." The knight easily dodged Gigobyte's attack as his own power raised (2600/0). The zombie then brought its blade down through Gigobyte destroying him and causing Oscar to cringe (Oscar: 2250).

"And don't forget my knight's ability," Walter pointed out as blood drained from him and his knight threw his knight threw more bones Oscar's way (Walter: 3200) (Oscar: 1950). "I might've taken a slightly bigger hit than you to activate that effect, but I'm so far ahead it doesn't even matter." Walter cackled loudly.

Oscar remained silent as he slid two cards in his back row. "Make your move."

"Looks like the dog has lost his bark, ha and you never really had a bite to begin with," Walter drew a card then immediately slammed it down on his deck. "I summon Blood Drain Merchant (1000/0), and now that I've summoned him, I'll pay 800 life points to draw two cards." A skeleton garbed in expensive looking silk robes appeared before Walter and drained his blood as Walter drew two cards (Walter: 2400).

"Now Blood Drain Knight attack him directly." The skeleton didn't hesitate before slashing into Oscar with his spine blade (Oscar: 50). "And now to end you. Blood Drain Merchant, teach this Osiris Oaf his place."

The finely dressed skeleton launched across the field preparing to connect its bony fist with Oscar's face, but before the attack could finish a large crocodile with a smaller crocodile sucking on a pacifier appeared on Oscar's side of the field.

"Sorry," Oscar said with a slight smile, "but I activated Damage = Reptile before you attacked with your knight which lets me special summon a reptile type monster from my deck with an attack equal to or less than the damage I took and I chose to summon Mother Croc (1400/1600) in defense position."

Walter's pale face started to grow bright red, "but—"

"I'm not finished there, because when Mother Croc is normal or special summoned, I can add any reptile type monster from my deck." Oscar added as he slid his deck out and searched for the card he needed.

"Fine," Walter exclaimed. "I'll just end my turn with a face-down, but you do know you're only delaying the inevitable, right?"

"We'll see," Oscar said as he drew a card. "I'll release Mother Croc to summon to the field the card I just added to my hand, Giga Gagagigo (2450/1500)." The crocodile sank down into the water left by Oscar's continuous spell as a larger humanoid crocodile emerged that looked like a grownup Gigobyte that was destroyed earlier except with some of his body parts exchanged with mechanical parts.

"I think you made him mad when you destroyed him before. Now he's angrier than ever." The large creature looked at the bone knight that had easily hacked through his younger form then let out a terrifying roar.

'_Now we're getting somewhere,_' Atlas thought as he silently found himself rooting for the Osiris, not that he would ever let him know.

"Now I'll activate the effect of Crocodile Feeding Grounds to send Razor Lizard (1500/300) from my deck to the graveyard to increase the attack of Giga Gagagigo." The large crocodilian thrust its mouth into the water gobbling up its prey (3950/1500.

"Now attack his merchant and this duel!" The giant reptile lunged across the field preparing to make quick work of the merchant but was stopped by an invisible barrier.

"I activate the Negate Attack. Nice try Osiris but you have to know by now that I'm always going to be one step ahead of you," Walter said, but Atlas didn't miss the waver in his voice. Atlas knew that Walter wasn't actually expecting such a strong attack from Oscar.

"Fine. I still have the monster with the strongest attack , so I'll just end my turn." Oscar responded confidently as Giga Gagagigo's attack dropped back to normal (2450/1500).

"Not for long," Walter chided in as he drew a card. "You see, I've been holding my strongest card since the beginning of the duel. Now I'll sacrifice both Blood Drain Knight and Blood Drain Merchant to summon a stronger beast." The bones of the two monsters broke apart then started to viciously swirl around in a circle.

"From pain and blood comes power and from cruelty comes the ability to use it! Form, king of suffering, Blood Drain Emperor (2600/0)." The bones started to go form together to create a large skeleton covered in heavy obsidian armor holding a giant metal hammer with spikes on both ends of it.

"Now I'll pay half of my life points to destroy every card on the field except for my emperor." The skeleton ruler drained a large amount of blood from Walter as the blood started to swirl around him in a ring (Walter: 1200). The emperor then lifted up his hammer and the blood started to shout out like bullets annihilating everything on the field, including Oscar's now face-up trap card.

"The card I just activated was Wabuko, which means any battle damage I take this turn will be reduced to zero," Oscar said relieved.

"You stall too much, but whatever I'll take you out eventually."

"Maybe you will beat me eventually, but not today. I activate Monster Reborn to revive Gigobyte (350/300)," Oscar thrust his fist in the air as his favorite monster busted from the ground.

Atlas sighed as he viewed what he thought was a giant mistake on Oscar's part. '_He could of anything back…but he chose to bring back that weakling. Welp, I guess that's why he's in Osiris Red_.'

"Wow! Have you completely lost it?" Walter was practically in tears from laughing so hard.

"Not quite because now I'll equip Gigobyte with Amulet of Ambition and then he'll attack your emperor with Ferocious Bite!" A small star shaped necklace appeared on the little crocodile's neck right before it jumped straight for Blood Drain Emperor.

'_He really has lost it_,' Atlas and Walter simultaneously thought. But before either of them could say a word, a bright red aura surrounded Gigobyte as his attack skyrocketed (3850/300).

"You see when a normal monster equipped with Amulet of Ambition attacks a higher-leveled monster it gains attack equal to the difference in level times 500. And I count a difference of seven levels, which means you and your emperor are toast," Oscar explained with a slight smirk on his face.

Gigobyte collided with the emperor and burst out the other side before Walter even had a chance to react.

(Walter: 0)

(Oscar: 50)

"And that's how Osiriss do it!" Oscar as he stuck a thumbs up towards Atlas who's mouth was wide open.

Atlas only shook his head in a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and disappointment as he walked into his dorm building with Oscar hot on his heels

...

'_How could I lose to a Osiris,' _Walter thought to himself in his dorm still in shock form his duel earlier in the day with Oscar. "Mark my words, I will defeat you Oscar…no matter what it takes."

* * *

><p>Cards of the Duel:<p>

Oscar Hayden:

Gigobyte - Lv 1, Water, Reptile, 350/300

He has a tranquil soul, but carries a destiny that one day his heart shall be tainted by evil...

Walter Whitley:

Blood Drain Emperor - Lv 8, Dark, Zombie, 2600/0

Once per turn, you can pay half of your Life Points to destroy all other cards on the field. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: Gain Life Points equal to the original ATK of that destroyed monster in the Graveyard.

_Oliver surprised everyone after defeating Walter, an Obelisk Blue, with only a few life points left. Atlas is learning that Duel Academy won't be a place full of pushovers, especially when he witnesses a "friendly" duel between two best friends. Catch the next chapter, Bourne to be Wilde._


	4. Bourne to be Wilde

Atlas twirled his fork in his spaghetti while Dalton and Oscar argued over whether dragon types or reptile types were better. They both snapped their heads towards Atlas and at the same time asked, "Which one do you think is better?!"

"Do you really want to know which one I think is better," Atlas asked as he slurped up a spaghetti noodle. They both nodded their heads vigorously. "Well the obvious answer is…warrior type."

Both of their mouths dropped to the floor. "That wasn't even a choice," Oscar chided in. "Both of you are just jealous of my deck. It's okay though, not everyone can have skills like this."

"Hardly," Atlas added in. "I haven't seen your name on any magazines lately…or at all for that matter."

"Both of you are dead wrong. Everyone knows that dragon types are the best. What's the most famous monster…Blue-Eyes White _DRAGON_, not Blue-Eyes White Knight, or Blue-Eyes White…Turtle," Dalton all but shouted. "This can only be settled one way. And I'm pretty sure you both know what that is?"

"A Battle Royale! A duel between us three to determine which type is really the best," Oscar said with fire in his eyes.

"Nah," Atlas side while pushing a meatball into his mouth. "I'm kind of tired of dueling. I've been challenged three times today and it's only noon. You two can go ahead and knock each other out."

"What's wrong Atlas," Dalton said in a way as if he was talking to a baby. "Are ya chicken? Duel Academy's no place for chickens."

"I do recall beating you in our last duel," Atlas said matter-of-factly. Immediately Dalton shut up. "Besides don't you guys want to go watch a movie or something besides dueling twenty-four seven. I get that we are duelists, but come on. Doctors don't go dissecting things all the time," Atlas said while pretending a meatball on his plate was a frog as he sliced his knife through it.

"Umm…no," both Dalton and Oscar replied in unison.

"You guys have been saying sentences at the same time so much recently that if I didn't know better than I'd say you were twins," Atlas teased as he picked up his glass of water. Dalton and Oscar looked at each other in disgust as if imagining life as twins.

"Did someone say twins," came a voice belonging to someone standing directly behind Atlas.

Atlas turned around to see the origin of the voice. It belonged to a girl wearing a Ra Yellow top with a white skirt. Her black hair was pinned in a bun to her head and she wore a sly smile on her face.

"Umm…I did, why?" Atlas looked at the girl then looked around to see if maybe the girl had a twin near her, but she didn't. The only person near her was a boy in a Ra Yellow blazer and black pants with blond hair.

It was the boys turn to speak up. "Well she only asks, because ever since we've known each other everyone calls us the twins. Maybe it's because they think we act the same, or…"he paused as he scratched his head as his "twin" did the same. "You know I don't really see it."

"Wait, what?" The girl now perturbed responded. "You don't see it. You must be blind. We've always been known as the inseparable pair: Eve Bourne and Byron Wilde ," she said to the blond Ra as she poked him aggressively in his chest.

'_I don't really see it either,'_ Atlas thought but didn't speak it for fear that the girl might turn on him.

"Now that I think about it," the boy who Atlas decided was named Byron, said as he tilted his head back and placed his hands in his pockets, "I would say that we are actually...opposites_._"

It was clear that he had struck a nerve in Eve because Atlas could basically see the fire in her eyes. "You think that we're _opposites_," she shrieked. "That's it; you know how it goes when we disagree. I, Eve Bourne, now challenge you, Byron Wilde, to a duel."

Byron rolled his eyes as he spoke a single word: "Fine."

Somehow Atlas, Dalton, and Oscar had ended up getting pulled into watching the duel at the Ra Yellow duel field. Eve had insisted that they watch her mop the floor with her "twin".

"You know…if you win this duel, you don't have to be my twin anymore," she announced wistfully, "but _when_ I win this duel you will wear the title of "Twin" proudly for as long as we know each other…which better be forever."

Byron only shrugged in response as he took out his duel disk. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you to spare your feelings. Even if I wanted to stay your twin, I can never not try to win. So, _sister_, prepare to lose."

Duel

(Byron: 4000)

(Eve: 4000)

"And I'll take the first move since this was a challenge at me," Byron said as he skillfully drew six cards in one swipe. "Now by sending my Zeradias, Herald of Heaven (2100/800) from my hand to the graveyard, I can add the Sanctuary in the Sky to my hand."

An angel with green wings holding a spear ascended to the clouds as Byron added a card from his deck to his hand. "Now, I'll activate it." A side slot opened from Byron's duel disk as he inserted the field spell. "Go, Sanctuary in the Sky."

A large white temple on a floating boulder appeared as the ground was transformed into clouds. "Now I'll summon Shining Angel (1400/800) in attack position." A man with blonde hair and four large wings extending from his back appeared on the field in front of Byron. "And with that I'll set one card and call it a turn."

A card materialized in Byron's back row as Eve quickly snatched a card from the top of her deck then brought her attention to another card in her hand. "I summon Foxtail Drainer (1700/1300)."

A fox with four tails materialized on Eve's side of the field then transformed into a beautiful woman with extremely long nails. She did a twirl revealing she still had the tails from her previous form.

"And although you won't take any damage from this, I can't deny my fox a kill. Foxtail Drainer, destroy Shining Angel!" The fox-woman launched across the field in one stride and brought her long nails straight through the angel's midsection. The unfortunate fairy-type struggled for a bit before finally succumbing to its grievous wound.

"Now that Shining Angel was destroyed in battle I can Special Summon Nova Summoner (1400/800) from my deck to the field," Byron said without hesitation as he pulled his deck free and brought the card he was looking for to the field.

As Byron shuffled his deck and placed it back into its holder a circle made of orange crystals with a pair of small feathery wings appeared on Byron's field.

"Hmm," Eve said as she rubbed her chin. "I guess I'll end my turn there."

"As your turn ends, I'll activate Solemn Wishes, so now whenever I draw a card I gain five-hundred life points." Byron didn't hesitate in quickly snatching a card from his deck (Byron: 4500). "I now activate the spell card Kamikaze and I choose Nova Summoner as the target of its effect, now if the monster I choose is destroyed by battle, the monster that destroyed it shares the same fate. Now, Nova Summoner crash into Foxtail Drainer!"

The weird-looking fairy zoomed over to Eve's monster, but was quickly destroyed with a quick swipe of Foxtail Drainer's claws. Nova Summoner exploded in a blaze of fire consuming Foxtail Drainer with it.

"Now I'm sure you know what comes next. Since Nova Summoner was destroyed in battle while I control the Sanctuary in the Sky, I can now summon my favorite card. Rise, Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)!"

A centaur-like angel materialized on Byron's side of the field and reared up on its hind legs showing it was ready to battle.

"And since it still is my battle phase," Byron went on, "I'll have Parshath attack you directly. Go Templar's Strike!"

The half stallion, half man creature charged across the field with its blade pointed right in front of him. It brought its blade straight through Eve (Eve: 2100).

"Now Airknight Parshath's ability allows me to draw one card," Byron said as he lifted one card from his deck and added into his hand (Byron: 5000).

"I'll set one card. And end my turn. If you want to remain my twin…I suggest you actually try," Byron said matter-of-factly.

"I'm only getting started," Eve said as she drew a card with a devious smile. "Now I'll summon Foxtail Thief (500/400) in attack mode."

A small girl wearing all black clothes with three small fox tails appeared in front of Eve. "Now that I control a Foxtail monster, I can special summon this little gem. Foxtail Shadow (1000/500)."

Out of Foxtail Thief's shadow jumped out a pitch-black fox with red markings along its coat and three elongated tails. "Now I'll activate my Foxtail Shadow's ability, by decreasing her attack to zero, I can increase another Foxtail monster I control's attack by one thousand."

Foxtail Shadow jumped back into Foxtail Thief's shadow causing dark electricity to flow through Eve's monster (Foxtail Shadow: 1000-0/500) (Foxtail Thief: 500-1500/400).

"Now onto the battle phase. Foxtail Thief will attack…directly," Eve said slyly as she pointed her left hand at Byron's face. Her small Foxtail jumped over Airknight Parshath then pulled out a small kunai and thrust it into Byron (Byron: 3500).

"And as you already know, when Foxtail Thief deals you battle damage you banish the top card of your deck," Eve added as Byron began to pocket the top card of his deck. Byron looked down at the card he was pocketing, '_Hmm, Cestus of Delga…that would've come in handy_.'

"Now I'll leave you with one face-down and end my turn," Eve said as a sneaky grin spread across her face.

Byron drew a card causing his life points to increase to the original starting amount (Byron: 4000). "By you removing the top card of my deck last turn, you let me reach this card faster," Byron said as Airknight Parshath ascended into the sky and started to glow radiantly.

"Overflowing benevolence is the key to strength! Ascend, proctor of life, Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin (2300/2000)." Atlas, Dalton, and Oscar covered their eyes as Airknight Parshath started to glow even brighter as he transformed. His centaur lower body dissolved into particles of light as he started to gain properties, more machine-like. When the bright light dissipated the final result could only be described as a cross between Airknight Parshath and Nova Summoner.

"And _twin_, as you know, Neo-Parshath's strength increases by the difference of life points when my life points are higher and the Sanctuary in the Sky is face-up on the field (Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin: 4200/3900).

"This is the end of our siblinghood, Neo-Parshath strike down Foxtail Thief. Virtuous Blade!" Neo-Parshath brought his blade up pointing straight up and it elongated and started to glow vibrantly. By the time the blade had finished growing it was the length of the entire duel field causing the onlookers to look up in awe. Without warning the blade was brought down with incredible speed, bisecting Foxtail Thief and stirring up a large amount of dust.

"I guess you really didn't want to stay my twin after all," Byron said with a cold tone.

"I think you might want to check your life points again, twin," came Eve's voice from her obscured body in the dust cloud.

"Fine, but I don't see for what reason though." Byron looked down at his life point counter and couldn't fight back the surprise as he saw his life points had taken a huge dive (Byron: 300). "What…what did you do," Byron said not hiding the shock in his voice."

"I don't think I've ever played this card against you…but you should still recognize it from my other duels," Eve replied angrily. As the dust cleared, a translucent woman in a white dress with two fox tails was floating above Eve. "This girl here is Foxtail Mirage (800/200), and when I would take damage involving a Foxtail monster of mine, I can discard her to reverse the damage on you instead."

"…Fine, I'll just play one card face-down and end my turn," Byron replied as he slid a card into his duel disk noting that since his life points had lowered so dramatically Neo-Parshath's attack and defense were now back to their original amount (Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin: 2300/200).

"Now…to begin the last turn of the duel," Eve stated as she quickly drew a card from her deck.

"Let's not be so rash," Byron interrupted, "yes my Neo-Parshath may have been weakened, but he still is the strongest monster on the field at the moment."

"Exactly," Eve continued, "at the moment. But before I get to that, I'll activate Pot of Greed." A large grinning pot appeared on Eve's side of the field momentarily before exploding as she swiftly drew two cards.

"Now I'll summon Foxtail Caller (1200/900) to the field." A lithe fox with three skinny tails appeared next to Eve before letting out a long, drawn out yelp. "And when Foxtail Caller is summoned, I can add two more Foxtail Caller's from my deck to my hand." Eve quickly found the cards she was looking for before continuing.

"Now, Byron, can you humor me for the sake of our audience?" Eve questioned innocently, with which Byron responded with a roll of his eyes. "What do you consider the least used monster card-type?"

Byron let out a sigh before answering. "Ritual type monsters."

"Exactly," Eve replied excitedly. "And which monster card-type does my deck specialize in using."

This time Oscar answered from the crowd. "Oh oh, I know! Ritual type monsters!"

"Dead on," Eve said happily. "Now let me give you all a view of some of my _Ritual type monsters_. I activate the spell card, Demon Fox Ritual by sacrificing the one Foxtail Caller on the field and the two in my hand."

Two more Foxtail Callers appeared on Eve's side of the field, before promptly exploding into a pillar of deep purple flames with a pair of piercing eyes glaring at Byron's side of the field.

"Sacrificial lambs and child pawns burn to ashes as the queen of tricks makes her appearance! Join in the slaughter, Foxtail Bewitcher (2400/1600)."

The pillar of flames started to form a distinct shape as they dissipated. A woman wearing a night blue kimono with nine elegant tails sticking out the end appeared on Eve's side of the field. The woman bowed before donning the same signature smirk of Eve.

Atlas shuddered as he viewed the monster, '_Why do I get a bad feeling from this monster…and this girl in general?'_

"Now before we get to Bewitcher's effect, I'll have Foxtail Shadow use her ability to increase Bewitcher's attack by decreasing her own (Foxtail Shadow: 1000-0/500) (Foxtail Bewitcher: 2400-3400/1600). Now onto the main event, Foxtail Bewitcher's ability! I can now switch the attack of my Foxtail Shadow and your Neo-Parshath; buffs, debuffs, and all. Go, Bewitching Flames!"

Foxtail Bewitcher started to chant a spell in a demonic language causing runes to appear that were made of the same dark flames that brought the powerful ritual monster to the field. The runes then started to rapidly circle Foxtail Shadow and Neo-Parshath, causing their attacks to swap (Foxtail Shadow: 0-2300/500) (Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin: 2300-0/2000).

"The only downside is now my Foxtail Shadow can't attack…but no matter, Foxtail Bewitcher, attack Neo-Parshath with Egregious Hex!" Foxtail Bewitcher leveled her well-manicured hand towards Byron's lone monster before letting out a lethal amount of dark flames Neo-Parshath's way.

"As powerful as your combo is, you're forgetting that I won't take damage from a battle involving a fairy-type as long as the Sanctuary in the Sky remains on the field, allowing me to make a comeback next turn," Byron said matter-of-factly.

"I already told you, twin, there will not be a next turn," Eve replied as her face-down card flipped face-up.

"Mystical Space Typhoon destroys one card of my choosing, and I obviously choose the Sanctuary in the Sky."

As the dark flames approached closer to Neo-Parshath the temple and clouds were ripped apart bringing back the Ra Yellow dorm scenery. The flames quickly engulfed Neo-Parshath's body bringing an end to him and the rest of Byron's life points.

(Byron: 0)

(Eve: 2100)

End Duel

Eve bounded across the field to Byron and called out to him, "You'll always be my twin." She then lowered her voice so only he could hear, "And I expect you do what's right for me no matter the cost," she added with a hint of regret in her voice.

* * *

><p>Cards of the Duel:<p>

Eve Bourne:

Foxtail Bewitcher - Lv 9, Dark, Beast, 2400/1600

Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. You can Ritual Summon this card with any "Fox" Ritual Spell Card. This card This card cannot be removed from the field by your opponent's card effects. Once per turn you can select 1 "Foxtail" monster you control except this card and 1 monster your opponent controls. Switch their ATK or DEF until the End Phase. The monster you selected that you control cannot attack this turn.

Byron Wilde:

Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin - Lv 7, Light, Fairy, 2300/2000

You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing 1 "Airknight Parshath" you control. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: Draw 1 card. While "The Sanctuary in the Sky" is on the field and your Life Points are higher than your opponent's, this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the difference in Life Points.

_There appears to be no such thing as a weak duelist at Duel Academy. How will Atlas fair when faced against a powerful opponent. Catch the next chapter, Second Best._


	5. Second Best

Atlas gazed upon the ocean as he sat on the dock overlooking the water. The ocean reflected the night sky like a liquid mirror, perfectly displaying wavy images of the moon and the stars that dotted the sky. For him it was refreshing to be away from home and smelling the crisp salty air. Atlas always wanted to live near the water, but his whole life has either been lived in a lofty skyscraper for business trips where his parents' top floor apartment gave him an excellent view of smog and people toiling away or in a cookie cutter neighborhood for cookie cutter people and their million dollar houses.

Atlas scoffed as he remembered how his parents would host parties what seemed like every week for his two brothers, and how he would feign happiness for the sake of their company. Nothing had disturbed Atlas more than his own family's wealth and how it inflated his brother's egos, but in the same way it was affecting him. He thought back to a couple of weeks ago when he had assumed Oscar would be placed in the lowest ranking dormitories on Duel Academy, purely based on his mannerisms. Granted he was right, but it was not until after Atlas saw Oscar defeat an Obelisk Blue, did he decide he was at least worthy of earning Atlas's friendship, but not yet had he earned the title of an equal.

It was this very elitist mentality that Atlas had grown to despise. He used to rebel against his parents whenever they would look down on people because of their economic status. The mentality where his brothers believed they had a right to everything, including their expensive and rare cards.

Atlas on the other hand refused to build his deck form expensive cards, although his cards are just as rare his brothers'. He had entered a card creating contest where the winner would receive the card they created and a series of cards not yet released to the public. Atlas had entered similar contests before, but he would never even come close to winning. But he found a new resolve after his brothers mocked him for not owning a deck. He spent months researching and finally created a card that embodies what his family lacked most, humility.

Atlas shook his head clearing his thoughts of the past. Although Atlas still resented his family as It only fells second nature as of now, greed and selfishness has infected his thoughts. '_I was so naive as a child_,' Atlas thought to himself. '_This world's unfair, and in an unfair world its survival of the fittest_.'

* * *

><p>A sharp knock interrupted Dalton, who was currently sprawled out on his bed, from reading a novel about a dragon rampaging through a kingdom. He looked over to his alarm clock and saw it was just after eleven p.m. '<em>Who is coming over at this time of night,<em>' he thought to himself as he sluggishly got up to answer the door.

More knocks assaulted Dalton's door as he approached. "I'm coming! I'm coming," He yelled at his surprise visitor. He lurched the door open to a pair of hardened green eyes belonging to a stern looking Obelisk Blue.

"Michael Atlas. Where is he?"

Dalton was taken aback by the briefness of the visitor. "He's normally at the docks at this – –"

Before Dalton could finish the visitor was briskly walking down the hallway. "How rude," Dalton mumbled to himself as he closed the door and went back to his novel.

* * *

><p>Atlas was brought out of his thoughts as he heard footsteps approaching. '<em>Odd<em>,' he thought to himself as most people were in their own dorm rooms at this time of night.

He turned to see the figure rapidly approaching his seated position. He brought himself to his feet and faced the mystery visitor with a questioning glare. As the lighthouse's came full circle the figure was illuminated and Atlas was able to determine it was a male wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform.

The unknown Obelisk Blue stopped approximately twenty yards from Atlas and reached into his backpack. "Michael Atlas?"

"Yes...and you," Atlas questioned as he tried to determine if he recognized the voice.

"My name is Nick Forbes...and I've come to challenge you to a duel." As he said that, he fished out his duel disk from his backpack and placed it on his arm.

"Why does your name sound so familiar...and why are you so eager to duel me," Atlas questioned as he reached for his own duel disk.

"My name might sound familiar, because I was to be one of the rising pro-league duelists last year," Nick said as he placed his deck into his duel disk. "That was until examination duel with another pro-leaguer. The conditions were if I won I would immediately join the ranks of pro duelists...but if I lost I would instead attend Duel Academy and join the pro-league if and only if I ranked within the top ten by the time of my graduation."

"Okay that's cool and all," Atlas interrupted. "But what does any of this have to do with me."

"Patience, I'm getting to that part. As you can see," Nick said as he patted his Obelisk Blue uniform, "I didn't pass the examination duel. As a matter of fact, it was your brother, Remus Michaels, who made sure of that. He beat me within a few turns, and I didn't even get a chance to inflict any damage to him." Nick paused as he examined his duel disk.

Atlas frowned at the mention of his brother's name. "I still don't see how this concerns me."

"They say the Michaels brothers are very similar-"

"Watch it," Atlas snapped angrily. "I'm nothing like my brothers. If you want to duel me fine, but don't compare me to _them._"

"We'll get to the duel in a minute, I'm almost done with my story. Now where was I...oh yes, ever since I've joined the academy I have ascended through the ranks and now I stand here as the second best duelist at the academy. Now if you truly are _like_ your brothers, then I'd wish to test my skills against you...and come out victorious."

Duel

(Atlas: 4000)

(Nick: 4000)

Both duelists quickly drew five cards, with Atlas quickly snatching a sixth signifying he was taking the lead. "Don't think that your little title of being ranked second in all of Duel Academy means anything to me. I'll squash like all the other insignificant peons who think they can stand up to me." As Atlas spoke he placed a spell card into his duel disk causing a large vortex of wind and multiple colors to appear above Atlas.

"I'll start the duel off with Polymerization," Atlas stated as he sent two cards from his hand to the graveyard. "Now by fusing Divine Hero Argonauts (1200/800) with Divine Hero Jason (1600/1200) I can give you Argo, the Divine Hero Carrier (2100/2500)."

The waters behind Atlas began to churn violently as a large boat dropped from the vortex into the sea.

"Next I'll activate Son of Zeus, which lets me add one of my more powerful cards to my hand," Atlas said with a slight grin as he pulled free the desired card. "Now once per turn, Argo can special summon one Divine Hero monster from my graveyard or hand, and I choose my hand."

A bright light emanated from the prow of the boat as the winds began to pick up again.

"Only the mighty have what it takes to become a hero, and still only the divine can become godly. A hero's work is never done. Appear, achiever of efforts, Divine Hero Heracles (2600/2000)!"

A hulk of a man wearing golden and silver armor formed from the light and placed himself in between Atlas and Nick.

"And if you thought I was done there...you were dead wrong, because I still have my Normal Summon. And since I control a Divine Hero, I can summon this card without a tribute. Arrive, Divine Hero Theseus (2400/1600)."

A smaller Divine Hero appeared next to Heracles in a fighting position.

"Now with my last card I'll replenish my hand. Card of Sanctity activates!" Golden coins rained down from the sky as Atlas drew six cards and Nick only drew one. "Now I'll set two cards, and pass over the turn to you...try to keep up."

"Oh...I'll do more than keep up," Nick replied as he added his seventh card to his hand. "Now you made a very rookie mistake, you overextended."

"Overextended, what are you talking about," Atlas growled.

"Well when a person overextends, they leave themselves susceptible to mass removal cards. Cards such as this one. Lightning Vortex, by discarding one card all of your monsters will bite the dust," Nick explained as he slid one card into his graveyard.

Atlas watched with a stern face as lightning dropped from the sky and obliterated his three monsters.

"Now that your field is clear, I'll now summon Vortex Magician (1600/0) and attack you directly." A magician in a stark white robe appeared then shot a white orb of energy straight towards Atlas.

Before the attack reached Atlas, a purple fog erupted from the water carrying with it Atlas's recently departed Argo. "The card I just activated was Call of the Haunted and I choose to bring back Argo, the Divine Hero Carrier. Care to continue your attack?"

"I'll cancel Vortex Magician's attack," Nick called out unfazed. "I'll leave you with one face-down and end my turn."

A face-down card materialized on Nick's side of the field as Atlas swiped a card from the top of his deck. "Argo's ability revives Divine Hero Heracles in attack position!"

Following the same events as before the famous Greek boat manifested Atlas's favorite monster into existence. "You're going to have to try harder than activating a few 'mass removal' cards if you want to beat me. Now I'll summon Divine Hero Eteoclus (1300/100) also in attack position."

A man in golden armor carrying an ornate shield depicting a warrior climbing a tower appeared next to Heracles. Atlas then slid a spell card into his back row showing a band of warriors preparing to fight a mysterious enemy. "The A. Forces now gives all of my warriors attack equal to the number of warriors and spellcasters I control times two-hundred."

A bright golden aura surrounded Heracles and Eteoclus as their attacks started to rise (Divine Hero Heracles: 2600-3000/2000) (Divine Hero Eteoclus: 1300-1700/100).

"Now that face-down of yours better be a useful one, or this duel is over. Divine Hero Heracles, demolish Vortex Magician with Herculean Punch!"

Atlas's strongest monster leapt across the field in a single bound as his left fist began to glow brilliantly. The fist was about to connect with Nick's lone monster, but an invisible force field stopped Heracles from going any further. Atlas brought his attention to his opponent's now face-up card. '_Negate Attack...damn it,_' Atlas thought to himself as he signaled the end of his turn.

"I told you not to overextend or you would end up paying the price. I activate Dark Hole!" Nick slammed the card into his duel disk and mere moments later a swirling vortex appeared in the middle of the field pulling all of the monsters into them.

Before Eteoclus had chance to be sucked into the the black hole, he jumped backwards hitting Nick with a strong gust of wind then vanished into thin air (Nick: 3600). Shortly after a tornado appeared on Atlas's side of the field as it dissipated it revealed a warrior in light, golden armor wielding twin blades. "Firstly, when Eteoclus would be destroyed by a card effect, I can instead return him to my hand and inflict four hundred damage to your life points, and when a Divine Hero is removed from my side of the field I can special summon this guy and increase his attack by three hundred, Divine Hero Adrastus (1500-1800-2000/1200). I figured you would try to punish me for overextending again, so I planned accordingly."

Nick only shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly only serving to irritate Atlas even farther. "Well, when Vortex Magician is sent from the field to the grave, I can banish one card in my graveyard to draw one card. So I'll banish the card I sent with Lightning Vortex, which was Chaos Returner (1200/200)."

Nick drew a card then placed it immediately onto his duel disk. "I summon Sangan (1000/600) in defense position." A small three-eyed fiend appeared crouching defensively in front of Nick. "Now I'll play a card face-down and end my turn. And when Chaos Returner is banished from my graveyard, he returns at the end phase."

"Now I summon Divine Hero Eteoclus once more and because of my spell both of my monster's attacks rise." The two warriors gripped their equipments as their company empowered one another (Divine Hero Eteoclus: 1300-1700/100) (Divine Hero Adrastus: 2000-2200/1200).

"Now lets put you to the test once more. Eteoclus attack Sangan, and Adrastus go in for a direct strike."

Nick didn't hesitate in activating his face-down trap card. "Half or Nothing forces you to choose, between automatically ending your battle phase, or halving the attack of your monsters for the turn."

"I choose half," Atlas responded, obviously frustrated by having the damage he was planning on doing significantly reduced (Divine Hero Eteoclus: 1700-850/100) (Divine Hero Adrastus: 2200-1100/1200).

Eteoclus hurled his shield at the defenseless Sangan who immediately shattered upon impact. As the shield returned to Eteoclus as if it were a boomerang, Adrastus quickly launched himself at Nick unsheathing his swords in a slashing motion as soon as he got in range (Nick: 2500).

"You're lucky," Atlas spat coldly as Nick added a card to his hand via the effect of Sangan. "I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Luck...your accusation is laughable," Nick responded with a slight hint of contempt hidden in his voice. "I've fought to the top on _skills_ not luck. For that ignorant comment, you have earned my wrath Atlas Michaels."

The wind started to swirl violently around the two duelists as Nick pulled free a card. "In all honesty, I don't believe you are worthy enough to see a card of such elegance, beauty...and raw power. But I'm tired of watching you duel as if you have been in control. You haven't, as a matter of fact, you've done everything I wanted you to do."

"What are you talking about," Atlas shouted. "Stop talking nonsense and get on with your turn already."

"As you wish," Nick said cruely. "By removing from play Vortex Magician and Sangan I can give birth to one of my most powerful monsters."

A violent fusion of white and black light manifested above Nick, each light seeming to be fighting the other for dominance, but neither gaining the upperhand. "In a flash of light and darkness everything came to be! Bring forth the genesis! Witness the first creation, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Atlas watched in shock and terror as a warrior in blue and gold armor formed out of the spiraling lights. The warrior wielded a wickedly sharp sword and a durable shield that shared the same colors as his armor.

"Now...let's see if you can stand up to this."

To be continued...

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: So I haven't said this yet but thanks for the reviews, and to all new readers and old readers (if there are any xD) I apologize for taking so long to update this story, as I've had the next 5 chapters' duels written out since August. I've honestly just been really lazy though. But hopefully that will change. But anyway, thank you all for reading. And if you like it write a review, and if you don't still leave a review telling me why, who knows it could help me with my writing. But anyway thanks :)<strong>

Cards of the Duel:

Atlas Michaels:

Argo, the Divine Hero Carrier - Lv 6, Water, Machine, 2100/2500

Divine Hero Jason + Divine Hero Argonauts

Once per turn you can Special Summon 1 "Divine Hero" monster from your hand or Graveyard.

Nick Forbes:

Vortex Magician - Lv 4, Light, Spellcaster, 1600/0

When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can banish 1 card from your Graveyard to draw 1 card.

_Atlas may have finally found his match in Nick Forbes, a powerful duelist who seems to be able to counter Atlas at every turn. Catch the exciting conclusion in the next chapter, Second Best Part 2._


	6. Second Best Part 2

_The wind started to swirl violently around the two duelists as Nick pulled free a card. "In all honesty, I don't believe you are worthy enough to see a card of such elegance, beauty...and raw power. But I'm tired of watching you duel as if you have been in control. You haven't, as a matter of fact, you've done everything I wanted you to do."_

_"What are you talking about," Atlas shouted. "Stop talking nonsense and get on with your turn already."_

_"As you wish," Nick said cruely. "By removing from play Vortex Magician and Sangan I can give birth to one of my most powerful monsters."_

_A violent fusion of white and black light manifested above Nick, each light seeming to be fighting the other for dominance, but neither gaining the upperhand. "In a flash of light and darkness everything came to be! Bring forth the genesis! Witness the first creation, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"_

_Atlas watched in shock and terror as a warrior in blue and gold armor formed out of the spiraling lights. The warrior wielded a wickedly sharp sword and a durable shield that shared the same colors as his armor._

_"Now...let's see if you can stand up to this."_

Atlas stood in fear as he faced the legendary monster that was rumoured to have been found in the deck of Yugi Motou, the first King of Games.

"You look shocked," noted Nick. "Don't be. After all you don't get to be one of the top duelists at Duel Academy using any old cards."

"I don't believe this," Atlas muttered under his breath. "One of the famous Chaos monsters..."

"I'm not done though, because now I summon Dimensional Alchemist (1300/200) and I'll use his ability to banish the top card of my deck to increase his attack." A masked figure appeared besides Nick's powerful warrior then formed a ball of dark energy as its attack points increased (Dimensional Alchemist: 1300-1800/200).

'_Hmm, this will come in handy_,' Nick noted as he pocketed the top card of his deck. "On to the main show. Black Luster Soldier, attack Adrastus with Slash of Creation." The armored warrior launched at Atlas's side of the field.

Atlas barely had time to think before the knight was upon his monster. "Hold up! Once per duel, while Divine Hero Jason is in my graveyard I can negate one attack!" As Atlas announced the effect a translucent form of Divine Hero Jason materialized between Nick's soldier and Adrastus.

"Clever, but it won't work." Nick said as Black Luster Soldier rushed through Jason's spirit with his sight still on Adrastus. "By returning my banished Illumination Wizard to my grave, I can cancel the effect of a card that would negate an attack of mine. Carry on my Soldier!"

Adrastus brought up his twin blades to combat Nick's powerful monster but before he could get in a strike Black Luster Soldier's sword was embedded in his chest (Atlas: 3200). As the amount of warriors on Atlas's side of the field decreased so did the attack of his Divine Hero Eteoclus (1700-1500/100). "Go, Space-Time Breakthrough!"

Atlas stepped back in surprise as Black Luster Soldier materialized behind Eteoclus and bashed the back of his head in with the brunt of his shield (Atlas: 1700). "Now Dimensional Alchemist finish him. You really weren't as much of a challenge as I had hoped."

The mysterious masked creature launched a ball of intensified light Atlas's way. "Don't count me out yet," Atlas replied as Argo, the Divine Hero Carrier (2100/2500) appeared behind him for a third time carried by a wave of light. "The trap card Divine Intervention," Atlas now signaled to his face-up trap card, "activates whenever I would take a direct attack. It lets me special summon any Divine Hero of my choice from my graveyard."

"You've evaded defeat...but for how long. I'll set one card and allow you to start your turn."

Atlas drew a card then quickly motioned over to the Argo, "Now that my boat's back, I bet you know what's coming next. Resurrect, Divine Hero Heracles (2600-2800/2000)!"

The boat released a beam of bright light carrying Atlas's distinguished monster. "I activate the spell, Pot of Greed and I won't waste your time or insult your intelligence explaining its effect," Atlas said as he drew two cards and a wide grin spread across his face. "Now for a combo I haven't yet played. You should be honored though. I actually consider you a threat enough to bring this out."

"What are you talking about? Even if you manage to destroy my Black Luster Soldier, I'll still have enough life points to make a comeback next turn," Nick replied matter-of-factly.

"We'll see," Atlas added. "Now I activate Gift of Life!" A green bordered card showing two Petit Angel like creatures each holding a card in its hand. As the card disappeared two angels just like the ones on the card appeared crouching defensively on Nick's side of the field.

"By giving you those Gift tokens (1000/1000 x2) I'm allowed to draw two cards," Atlas explained as he drew two more cards. "Now I'll activate Bloodlust allowing my Divine Hero Heracles to attack each monster you control at the cost of the rest of my monsters not attacking. Go Heracles, get rid of those tokens!"

Atlas watched waiting for Nick to activate his face-down but he didn't. Atlas's muscle bound warrior easily smashed through the fairy as his own attack increased (Divine Hero Heracles: 2800-3200/2000).

Nick's eyes widened as he realized his opponent's plan. '_So he plans on beefing up his monster by attacking those tokens then dealing enough damage to take me out by attacking Dimensional Alchemist. Pretty crafty..._'

Heracles turned on his heel and launched himself at the other angel. The creature looked up with fear right as it was crushed under the sheer weight of Atlas's monster (Divine Hero Heracles: 3200-3600/2000).

"Now move onto Dimensional Alchemist!" Heracles didn't even have to move far as he was right next to the creature all ready. He grabbed the alchemist in his hands and started to squeeze slowly draining the creature of life (Divine Hero Heracles: 3600-4000/2000).

"Not yet," Nick said with a smirk. "I activate my face-down Damage Mitigation halving all damage I take and making my monsters immune to destruction by battle. And as an added bonus at the end of the battle phase I get to draw one card for every one-thousand points of damage I took." Heracles let go of the fairy-type that he had suffocating seeing that it refused to die (Nick: 1150).

"Fine," Atlas replied angrily, "but I can still deal some more damage. Heracles show Black Luster Soldier a true warrior's strength! Herculean Punch!" Heracles (Divine Hero Heracles: 4000-4800/2000) pivoted around and lunged at the soldier with a golden, glowing fist. Black Luster Soldier hastily brought his shield to protect him from the powerful blow, but it still started to crack from the unadulterated might of the punch (Nick: 350).

"You may have stalled, but you're not the only one who can do that," Atlas said as pulled a card free from his hand. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light. Now I'm safe from attacks for three more of your turns. Your move (Divine Hero Heracles: 4800-2600/2000)."

Six bright lights in the shape of swords encircled Nick as he pulled two cards loose due to the effect of Damage Mitigator then another one for his draw phase. "Stall all you want," Nick said as he pointed towards Atlas, "nothing can protect you from my wrath! First I'll play the spell card Soul Absorption which heals me for five-hundred life points each time a card is banished. Next, I'll have Black Luster Soldier get rid of your irritating Divine Hero Heracles for good! Chaos Blade!"

"What," Atlas questioned as Nick's monster raised its blade. "You can't attack while I have my swords up."

"Its not an attack," Nick said with a fierce smile on his face. "Its an effect." The retrained Black Luster Soldier brought its sword down sending a wave of distorted energy straight into Heracles. For a second all was still, then Atlas's most powerful monster collapsed in on itself leaving him with only a boat (Nick: 850).

'_Crap,_' Atlas thought, '_I was able to make it seem like I saw that double-attack effect, but I wasn't even prepared for that banishing ability...'_

"Now I'll switch Dimensional Alchemist from attack to defense and let you begin your turn."

Atlas drew a card and quickly added it his hand noting it. "You may have gotten rid of my most powerful card, but that doesn't mean I'm out for the count. As a matter of fact, I did see that coming," Atlas lied even though he did have a plan.

"You forget that my Argo will revive any Divine Hero, including Divine Hero Theseus (2400-2600/1600)!" The named warrior arrived on Atlas's side of the field in a flash of bright light.

"Now Theseus, attack Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!"

"You're crazy," Nick commented. "You'll just-"

"Shut up and listen," Atlas retorted. "When Theseus attacks a monster he can switch its battle position so I'll be switching your soldier to defense position, meaning my monster has just enough to destroy it."

Theseus threw his golden rope onto Black Luster Soldier's sword and yanked it free out of his hand forcing the knight to crouch defensively. Atlas's divine warrior threw the stolen sword aside then pushed his dagger through the already formed cracks in Black Luster Soldier's shield effectively destroying the monster that had caused Atlas so much trouble.

"Now Argo, the Divine Hero Carrier, blast away Dimensional Alchemist." Slots opened up all over the boat as magical cannons were produced from out of nowhere. The cannons then opened fire on Nick's sole monster leaving his field barren except for his continuous spell card.

"Now make your move," Atlas snapped. '_Just one more turn, and then this duel is mine. Don't worry Heracles, I'll avenge you._'

"I can't...I can't believe you actually beat him," Nick said as he drew a card.

"Well you better believe it," Atlas said coldly. "If you want you can just end your turn now, so I can-"

"Silence!" Nick demanded as he looked up with a fierce look in his eyes. "I underestimated you, yes, but compared to me your skills are worthless!"

"What are you talking about? I have two powerful monster on my side of the field, and a card that prevents you from attacking for two more turns," Atlas replied. "If anything...you are the one with the worthless skills."

Nick's eyes widened at the accusation. "That's it," he all but yelled. "I'm going to shut that goddamn mouth of yours up once and for all. And all in one fell swoop..."

"Put your cards where your mouth is," Atlas said nonchalantly.

The wind started to pick up again as Nick gained a crazed look in his eyes. "You really are trash, and now its time to dispose of you! I remove from play Illumination Wizard and Chaos Returner (Nick: 1850)!"

Just like before, a mass of black and white light appeared above Nick's head. Each light violently to gain control. "In a flash of light and darkness everything will crumble! Bring forth the finale! Witness the last creation, Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

A dragon, much larger than the Hydra Dragoon that Atlas had faced days ago, was now descending onto the makeshift duel field. It was green in color covered in golden armor and had a mane of bright orange hair extending from the back of its head. It extended its wings and let out a roar that sent chills down Atlas's spine.

"Nope, you're nowhere near as strong as your brothers," Nick said coldly. He then turned to his dragon and gave a cruel smile. "This is it Atlas, your end. Chaos Emperor Dragon, by paying a portion of my life points I allow you to purge the field with Cemetery of Fire (Nick: 850)!"

'_My end,_' Atlas thought, '_yes the creature is big. But it can't attack...it must be another ability, but what-_'

Atlas was promptly brought out of his thoughts as the large dragon formed a gigantic ball of fire in its mouth. "You see that one-thousand life points I paid wasn't for nothing. It was to activate my dragon's ability! Now every card on the field and in our hands is sent to the Graveyard, you then take three-hundred points of damage for each," Nick explained as he laughed callously.

'_The three cards in my hand, plus the three cards in his hands, as well as the five cards on the field...that's eleven cards!_' Atlas stepped back reflexivly as he realized that he was about to take more than enough damage to bring him down to zero.

The dragon launched the ball into the middle of the field causing a large explosion that shook the pier they were standing on (Atlas: 0).

(Atlas: 0)

(Nick: 850)

End Duel

'_Ugh these are only holograms,_' Atlas thought to himself, '_why is this pier shaking_.' Atlas dug his heels into the ground to prevent himself from being tossed into the water below. It wouldn't end up well, especially since Atlas didn't know how to swim.

"Trash. Pathetic, insignificant trash," Nick said harshly. "I thought you would put up a better challenge like your brothers, but I was wrong to think that. You're not even in their league." Nick walked away without another word and was gone in no time.

Atlas collapsed to the ground completely drained of energy from that last effect. "Why did that hurt so much..." Atlas muttered to himself as he felt consciousness fading away.

...

Atlas woke with a start in a bed that wasn't his own. He looked around and upon closer inspection he determined he was in the school's infirmary. "What...why am I here?"

As Atlas hoisted himself up, he quickly learned the answer to his question. His whole body ached. He grunted in pain but continued to get out of the bed. Almost immediately a nurse entered the room and quirked an eyebrow at the injured teen.

"So you can walk...perfect," she said. "Chancellor Sato has been waiting for you in the lobby. I'll go get her." The nurse walked back out as Atlas stabilized himself on the night stand.

A woman standing around four inches taller than Atlas with dark brown hair entered the room. "Atlas Michaels...do you know why you are here?" the woman asked.

"Umm...because I'm hurt, I guess," Atlas replied as he scratched the nape of his neck.

"True," she said as she pinched her chin. "I'm sorry. I'm used to dealing with troublemakers in my office instead of the infirmary."

"Troublemaker, I-" Atlas started.

"You broke curfew _and _there was an explosion at the lighthouse, might I remind you, just in case you forgot, that was where you were. That explosion pretty much woke up everyone at Duel Academy, _including myself_."

"But-"

"Let me finish. Breaking curfew is a serious offence...and that explosion, I thought it was an attack on Duel Academy," as she said that she looked toward the ground with worried eyes. "Now I'm not sure exactly what that explosion was, and you seemed to be the only one hurt in the area, but I need to take disciplinary actions."

'_Great,_' Atlas thought to himself, '_I almost got knocked into the ocean and now I'm probably going to get expelled._'

"Now some of the teachers here want me to expel you," she started.

'_Yep, I knew it..._'

"But I, on other hand, am looking at a more lenient solution," she said looking at Atlas with a slight smile.

"And that is," Atlas questioned.

"Oh its nothing really," she said as she waved her hand around. "Detention for four hours after class, everyday, for the next month." She said as she started to walk out the door. "You can thank me, your Chancellor, for being so generous."

Atlas slumped back into bed, disheartened after basically being beaten twice in one day.

Chancellor Sato stopped at the door and turned back to Atlas with a grin. "Rest up, you got classes tomorrow. And detention."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Boom! And just like that another chapter! Oh by the by, there are no such thing as <em>forbidden<em> cards in this fic (as you could tell by Pot of Greed and Chaos Emperor Dragon)! ****Mwahaha!**

Cards of the Duel:

Atlas Michaels:

Gift of Life - Normal Spell

Special Summon 2 "Gift Tokens" (Fairy-Type/Light/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) in Defense Position on your opponent's side of the field. Draw 2 cards.

Nick Forbes:

Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning - Lv 8, Light, Warrior, 3000/2500

Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard. Once per turn, you can activate 1 of these effects.  
>● Target 1 monster on the field; banish that target face-up. This card cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.<br>● During the Damage Step, if this attacking card destroys an opponent's monster by battle: It can make a second attack in a row.

_Tick tock, goes the oh-so-slow clock. Stuck in detention Atlas is waiting for his "knight in shining armor" to come rescue him. But in all reality he didn't expect the knight to show up, or to be so...dark. Catch the next chapter, Jailhouse Blues._


	7. Jailhouse Blues

"Be quiet!"

Atlas looked up from his desk at the belligerent detention proctor. "But I wasn't even –"

"Shh!" The detention proctor responded quickly and angrily.

Atlas put down his head and let out a barely audible sigh.

"That's it funny guy! Since you refuse to sit in silence you can stay an extra hour."

"Are you fu—"

"Two hours," the proctor interrupted. "Would you care to try your luck and see if you can get more?"

Atlas hung his head in defeat as he pulled out a notebook and started working on his Dueling Strategies 213 homework. As he started answering a question on why Solemn Warning was considered a staple card a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see the detention proctor glaring down upon him.

"What do you think you're doing," the proctor asked to which Atlas only raised his eyebrows. "You can speak now," he said while rolling his eyes.

"Well I'm getting my homework done so this isn't a complete waste of my time," Atlas explained.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not in Professor Hickok's detention," The proctor now identified as Professor Hickok exclaimed. "Detention is meant to be a waste of your time. No talking, texting, doing homework, or anything productive. What would be the lesson learned if you just did homework and were able to socialize and what not after you get out?"

"That's insane," Atlas cried out.

"Three hours," Hickok said calmly.

"But you asked me a question!" Atlas said anger quickly rising in his voice.

"Four hours now. I never gave you permission to speak after I was done," Hickok said with a smug look of satisfaction painted across his face.

'_This teacher is crazy,_' Atlas thought as Hickok walked back to his desk. '_With these four extra hours tacked onto my regular time I'm going to have to stay here until midnight. I wonder how many extra hours I'll get if I drop kick him…'_

As the hours went by Atlas sat in utter silence becoming restless as his mind wondered to a desperate place. A sharp knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts of homicide. As soon as Hickok answered the door, Atlas's brows raised as he recognized two familiar faces and one unfamiliar face.

Oscar and Dalton stood at the door beside a short male Osiris Red with black hair covering one of his eyes.

"Your knights in shining armor have arrived," Oscar shouted out pointing at Atlas who responded by putting his face in his palm.

'_What the hell are they doing here_,' Atlas thought to himself_. _ '_They're about to get me even more hours of detention…I'm going to be here until tomorrow morning._

"I'll make you a wager," Dalton said to Hickok as he reached for his duel disk. "I'll duel you for Atlas's freedom."

"And what's in it for me," the insane proctor asked with a raised brow.

"Ummm…how about the thrill of the duel," Dalton said with a cheesy smile as he shrugged.

"No, if we duel then you must share Atlas's detention fate."

"Ahh that's a bit risky…" Dalton said as he put his duel disk up. "I think I'll just let Atlas serve out his sentence."

Atlas shot Dalton a death glare. _'I wonder how many hours of detention I'll get for murdering two IDIOTS!_'

"Well that's a shame," Hickok said. "Real good friends you are."

"I'll duel for his freedom then," came a voice with a slight French accent. Atlas looked to see that it belonged to the Osiris Red that he didn't know.

"Benoit, you know you'll be stuck here if you lose," Oscar added.

"Oui," Benoit answered as he pulled out his duel disk and walked to the other side of the room. "I guess it's my turn to be the hero of the day."

DUEL

"A hero, huh?" Hickok said. "Well I guess that makes me the bad guy." Hickok activated his duel vest then motioned to Benoit to allow him to take the first move."

"Merci," Benoit said while smoothly drawing the top six cards of his deck. "Let's get straight to it then. I activate the field spell known as Clock Tower Prison." Benoit pressed a button on his Duel Academy issued duel disk and a slot on the side slid out. He promptly placed his card in the slot and the room started to change to a courtyard with a cloudy night sky being overlooked by a large clock tower.

'_So he uses Destiny Heroes_,_' _Atlas thought to himself as it now looked as if he were sitting on the walls blocking off the courtyard instead of at a desk. '_For both of our sakes, I hope he knows how to use them_.'

"Now that that's out of the way, I'll summon Destiny Hero – Disk Commander (300/300) in defense position."

A thin warrior in a skin tight gray suit appeared kneeling with his arms crossed over his chest. Hickok looked on with a look of displeasure on his face as he stared at the weak monster.

"Now I'll set one card, activate Card of Safe Return, and pass the turn over to you."

Hickok drew a card from his deck as two cards appeared in Benoit's back row, one face-up and the other face-down. "If you call that a turn, then this duel will be over quicker than I thought."

"Don't be so sure," Benoit said politely as the hour hand on his Clock Tower Prison rotated from the twelve o'clock position to three o'clock position. "Professeur you should know not to judge so harshly, especially since you've only seen a few of my cards."

"Yeah yeah," Hickok said while making a shooing motion with his hand. "Sounds just like something an Osiris would say, but anyway let's continue on with your defeat. I activate the spell card Second Coin Toss."

"Ah, a fitting card for a gambler," Benoit said in passing as a card showing a wealthy man throwing coins to a filthy goblin appeared in Hickok's backrow.

"How…how-" Hickok started before being quickly cut off.

"Well it's quite obvious that you have a tendency to gamble," Benoit said with a calm demeanor. "You were very eager to accept the challenge presented to you, despite it possibly costing your job."

"And how exactly will this cost me my job?"

"Well, where do I begin?" Benoit questioned as he put his chin in between the crook of his thumb and index finger. "For starters, you have agreed to release a student out of a severe punishment if I win-"

"But you won't win," Hickok cut in. "Now I'll show you why. I summon Twin-Barrel Dragon (1700/200) in attack position!" As Hickok slammed the card onto his duel vest, a blue mechanical dragon with a pocket pistol for a head appeared on the field. The mechanical dragon shot off a barrage of bullets at Benoit's lone monster but they all missed.

"What was that?" Oscar questioned.

"It was the gun dragon's ability," Benoit responded before Hickok had a chance. "When it is summoned he can destroy one card on my side of the field granted that he flips a coin and gets two heads…but obviously he didn't have such luck."

Hickok let out a low growl as the spell card in his backrow began to glow a dull green. "Second Coin Toss activates letting me try my luck again." The dragon fired around of shots at Destiny Hero – Disk Commander once more only to miss once again.

"It seems your luck is rather poor today Professeur Hickok," Benoit added.

"That doesn't mean your monster won't be destroyed this turn," Hickok said. It was obvious to everyone in the room that he was flustered since his effect hadn't gone as planned. "Twin-Barrel Dragon, destroy Destiny Hero – Disk Commander."

For the third time the gun dragon unleashed a hail of bullets, but unlike the first two times the bullets hit their mark, shredding through the weak warrior with ease. "Make you move boy."

Benoit drew a card, his face still calm. "I begin with the continuous spell card Covert Mission." A green bordered card showing a Swordsman of Landstar jumping over a Jinzo and attacking the Jinzo's controller.

"Next I'll summon Destiny Hero – Captain Tenacious (800/800) in attack position." A muscular warrior with long orange hair and two large, black shields appeared on Benoit's side of the field.

"Hey," Oscar shouted at the sight of the monster in attack position. "I think you made a mistake!"

"No," Benoit started calmly. "I don't make mistakes." Moments later the spell card Benoit had activated only moments earlier, Covert Mission began to glow blue as Captain Tenacious started to glow the same color.

"By activating Covert Mission's ability, it allows me to select one monster with attack equal to one thousand or less and allow it to attack directly. Now I select Destiny Hero – Captain Tenacious with Covert Mission's effect and use him to attack directly."

The mentioned monster leapt high over Hickok's monster and slashed down with his jagged shield (Hickok: 3200).

"Surprising," Hickok said with his eyebrow raised high. "First blood is yours. Anything else you have planned."

"No, my turn ends here," Benoit responded.

"Good," Hickok yelled as he swiftly drew a card and Benoit's field card reached the six o'clock position. "Now it's my turn to deal some damage! I summon Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast (2800/2000) without tribute!"

A large dragon-like machine appeared beside Twin-Barrel Dragon and let out a large roar.

"Unfortunately for you, when he is summoned without tribute, his attack and defense are halved," Benoit said his calm expression having stayed intact.

The machine shuddered as it shrunk and it grew weaker (Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast: 1400/1000).

"I was getting to that," Hickok shouted as his face started turning red. "Even in its weakened form, it's still more than a match for your puny _hero_. Fusilier, attack Captain Tenacious."

The mechanical tank-like dragon fired a round of shots heading straight for Benoit's monster.

"I applaud your enthusiasm, but I must say your attack will be in vain," Benoit replied as his lone face down flipped face up. Large chunks of rock formed around Destiny Hero – Captain Tenacious as changed into a kneeling position with both of his shields protecting him.

The barrage of bullets assaulted the lone Destiny Hero, but they all bounced off harmlessly causing Hickok to become even more frustrated with his opponent.

"D-Shield can only be activated when an attack position Destiny Hero monster I control is selected as an attack target. It equips to my monster switching it to defense position and making it invulnerable to destruction by battle."

Hickok's eye twitched as he looked down at his hand. "Fine, stall all you want! It will only be a matter of turns before your defense comes crumbling down! Take your turn..."

'_I'm hoping you find a way to break through my defense_,' Benoit thought to himself, '_then it can really get fun_.'

"Come on Benoit," Dalton called from the side. "You're going to have to play more offensively if you want to beat Hickok."

'_What is he talking about_,' Atlas wondered. '_The rate this is going, Benoit is going to beat this idiot professor without taking a drop of damage. I'm beginning to wonder why he's even an Osiris Red…'_

As Benoit drew a card, a smile formed across his face. "I start the turn off by summoning Destiny Hero – Fear Monger (1000/1000)."

The named warrior appeared with what looked like a jet pack on his back and cannon as a right arm.

"Let me guess," Hickok said with a dull expression on his face. "You're going to use Covert Mission to let him attack directly."

"Oui oui, let the play commence," Benoit expressed while pointed his finger directly at Professor Hickok.

Destiny Hero – Fear Monger launched himself into the air completely over Hickok's two monsters hurdling straight towards. At the last moment, the jetpack wearing warrior veered up then unleashed a missile from its cannon arm right into Hickok's face (Hickok: 2200). Shortly after a face-down card appeared behind Benoit's face-down as he entered his second main phase.

"The turn is yours," Benoit said with a genuine smile having completely emptied his hand. "Let us view your amazing duel skills."

Hickok all but ripped the card off his deck as he began his turn. As soon as he did, Benoit motioned to the card he had just set.

"Eternal Dread activates and adds two more counters to my Clock Tower Prison." The large clock tower changed its time from six o'clock to twelve o'clock having gained a total of four counters since it had been played.

"I don't really care about your useless field spell. Now that you left a monster in attack position, I can deal some real damage. Twin-Barrel Dragon, unleash hell on that Fear Monger!"

More bullets shot across the field piercing through the warrior and effectively destroyed him, but much to Hickok's disdain, Benoit didn't lose any life points.

"Check your duel disk," Hickok shouted angrily as the red on his face started to deepen in color. "You should have taken seven hundred points of damage."

"Professeur Hickok, my duel disk isn't malfunctioning. I didn't take any damage because of my _useless_ field spell. You see once it has four counters, all battle damage I would take is reduced to zero."

"You little shit," Hickok said under his breath. "Well, I end my turn." Hickok said loud enough for everyone to hear now. "You're going to have to have one hell of a top deck though if you plan on doing some significant damage."

"Well I would consider the damage I'm dealing you rather significant. You have almost half your life points, but regardless you couldn't be more wrong about the top decking situation."

"What are you talking about," Hickok questioned. "Unless there is something I'm missing."

"There is," Benoit said as he drew bringing his hand to one measly card. As he did, the spots on the left and right of Captain Tenacious began to shimmer as to figures began to form. As the light dimmed down, it could be seen that the two figures were Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and Destiny Hero – Fear Monger.

"What the hell, how did those weaklings come back?"

"Since Fear Monger was destroyed in battle last turn, his effect allowed me to bring back Disk Commander, and Captain Tenacious brought back Fear Monger."

"Well that doesn't remedy the fact that you only have one card in your hand," Hickok spat.

"But it does," Benoit said calmly as he drew four cards. "Now before you question, let me explain Professeur. You see the spell, Card of Safe Return, allows me to draw every time a monster is special summoned from my graveyard, and two monsters were revived so I drew twice."

"Well that explains two cards," Hickok interrupted. "So how did you draw the extra two?"

"I was getting there. When Destiny Hero – Disk Commander is special summoned I'm allowed to draw two cards. With my card effects as well as my draw phase, my hand of zero was brought to five," Benoit explained as he fanned out his full hand viewing his cards. "Now I activate the spell Destiny Draw, which allows me to draw twice more at the cost of one Destiny Hero in my monster."

Benoit quickly pulled out the determined card and slid into the graveyard then proceeded to draw two cards from his deck. "Now I'll summon Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude (1400/1600) in defense position."

A man with large crystals emerging from his body appeared in front of Benoit with his arms crossed in front of him while kneeling.

"Once per turn while my Diamond Dude is face-up on the field he can reveal the top card of my deck, and if it is a normal spell card then it is sent to the Graveyard and I can activate its ability next turn, but if it is any other card it is sent to the bottom of my deck," Benoit explained. "But before we get to that, I'll activate the spell card Rigged Draw, and now by sending two cards in my hand to the graveyard I can place one card from my deck to the top."

'_With that effect, he can make it so that his Diamond Dude's effect will go off without a hitch_,' Atlas mused.

"Now my Diamond Dude's effect activates." As the French duelist motioned to his monster, the large crystal on the mentioned monster's body began to glow a bright blue. "And thanks to my Rigged Draw spell I guaranteed that the top card of my deck is a normal spell."

As he discarded the top card of his deck was sent to the graveyard a hologram appeared over the duel field revealing the discarded card to be Heavy Storm.

"Now that that's out of the way, I'll activate the ability of Rigged Draw in my graveyard. By banishing it from my graveyard I can activate its effect one final time." Benoit quickly found the card he was looking for and placed it on the top of his deck. "Now I'll use the effect of Covert Mission to have Destiny Hero – Fear Monger attack you directly once more."

Benoit's named monster launched a missile hitting Hickok square in the face (Hickok: 1200).

"End turn."

As Hickok drew a card a sly grin split his face in half. "By discarding one card, Cost Down reduces the level of monsters in my hand by two. Now the magic of Double Summon grants me two normal summons this turn."

Hickok discarded his card and then pulled free two cards from his hand preparing to play them. "By sacrificing Fusilier, I can tribute summon Barrel Dragon (2600/2200) and summon my Blowback Dragon (2300/1200) without tribute and activate both of their abilities. Go, Russian Roulette!"

Two large mechanical dragons with gun like heads appeared on Hickok's side of the field complimenting Twin-Barrel Dragon nicely. Without warning, the two newly summoned dragons let out a blast of bullets destroying Destiny Hero – Captain Tenacious and Destiny Hero – Fear Monger.

"It seems your luck has turned around Professeur Hickok," Benoit commented with a smile. "It seems both of your monster's effects were able to successfully destroy their intended effects without the aid of Second Coin Toss."

"Don't patronize me _boy_," Hickok said with venom dripping in his voice. "This duel has turned for my favor. I'll have Blowback Dragon attack Diamond Dude and Barrel Dragon attack Disk Commander!"

Once more, the dragons assaulted Benoit's side of the field leaving it completely monster free.

"It's your move," Hickok said. "But it's not like you can make a comeback now. Next turn I'll have Blowback Dragon destroy your Clock Tower Prison and unleash hell upon you with my machines."

"Why wait until next turn for you to destroy my field spell when I can destroy it this turn instead," Benoit questioned as he drew the card placed on the top of his deck by the effect of Rigged Draw.

"Are you crazy," Hickok asked bewildered. "Why would you willingly destroy the only card that will prevent you from taking battle damage."

"Because it will herald your demise," Benoit said with a smirk. "Now I'll activate the Heavy Storm that was sent to my graveyard on my last turn to destroy all spell and traps."

Strong winds whipped across the field as Clock Tower Prison was blown to pieces as well as the other spell and traps on the field.

"Foolish boy. If you thought that you accomplished anything, you didn't. My face-down card that you destroyed was Compensation, which when sent to the Graveyard allows me to add the card from the bottom of my deck to my hand," Hickok said as he added the card to his hand.

"I wasn't activating Heavy Storm to destroy your cards…I was activating it to destroy mine." Benoit pulled a card free from his deck then proceeded to place it on his duel disk. "When the clock rings twelve your demise has been sealed! Unleash the demon of the clock tower, Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster (?/?)!"

A large muscular man appeared on Benoit's side of the field with an iron mask on and steel broken shackles connected to each of his limbs.

Before Hickok could insult his newly summoned monster Benoit continued. "And when Dreadmaster is summoned via the effect of Clock Tower Prison I can special summon two Destiny Hero monsters from my graveyard to the field. Welcome back Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude. And did I mention Dreadmaster's attack and defense are equal to the combined original attack of all Destiny Hero monsters I control. Go, Dread Roar!"

Benoit's newly summoned monster let out a horrific roar as Disk Commander and Diamond Dude appeared back on the field (Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster: (1700/1700).

"A bit overdramatic for you to only make his attack equal to the weakest monster I control, even with your Disk Commanders draw effect, the chance of you getting anything threatening….is rather low."

"Hmm, you've seemed to have forgotten the card I drew at the beginning of this turn that was already predetermined by the effect of my Rigged Draw," Benoit said as he pulled a card in his hand free. "Now let me show you that card. By tributing my Disk Commander, I can summon Destiny Hero – Dasher (2100/1000)."

Benoit's weakest monster was quickly consumed in a dark flame as warrior in a sleek outfit with wheels for feet appeared on his field.

"Still not good enough," Hickok chimed in.

"You seemed to have forgotten about my Dreadmaster's effect already…tsk tsk." Dreadmaster let out another loud roar as his strength increased due to appearance of the rather powerful Destiny Hero (Destiny Hero Dreadmaster: 3500/3500).

"But wait," Hickok started as he examined the field.

"No more waiting," Benoit said abruptly. "Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster attack Twin-Barrel Dragon. Predator of Dreadnaught!"

The hulking monster lunged at Hickok's monster with his right hand balled into a fist and his left hand overlapping the right one. As soon as Dreadmaster was in range, it smashed its fists down onto the much weaker monster bringing an end to it as well as the duel.

(Hickok: 0)

(Benoit: 4000)

"No," Hickok said crazily. "NO! All of you get detention, how dare you?"

Atlas looked down not surprised at all by the teacher's sudden outburst, but his eyes averted to a woman who was now standing at the doorway and had been for several minutes.

"You idiot Osiris Red! Did you honestly-" Hickok continued before being interrupted.

"Ahem," came the voice of the woman standing behind Hickok.

The look on the professor's face was one of pure terror as he recognized the woman as Chancellor Sato, his boss.

"It seems you made a bet with these children that if this Osiris Red student had won you would let them go and you will stay true to your word," Sato said sternly before placing a firm hand on Hickok's shoulder. "But I would like to see you in my office, _right away_."

Moments after Sato had dragged the insane professor out of the classroom, Atlas, Benoit, Dalton, and Oscar had began heading towards the main building of Duel Academy for a quick bite. As Dalton and Oscar pulled ahead Atlas turned towards his savior wondering why he had put so much on the line to save him from a month of detention.

"Why," Atlas asked.

"Excuse me," Benoit questioned back, confusion clear on his face.

"Why did you participate in such risky business just to save me?"

"Ah." Benoit pushed the black hair from in front of his eyes as he looked directly at Atlas. "Well I can't challenge you to a duel if you're holed up in detention, now can I?"

* * *

><p>Cards of the Duel<p>

Benoit Amherst

Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster - Lv 8, Dark, Warrior, ?/?

If this card is Special Summoned by "Clock Tower Prison": Destroy all monsters you control, except face-up "Destiny Hero" monsters, then you can Special Summon up to 2 "Destiny Hero" monsters from your Graveyard. During any turn this card is Special Summoned, "Destiny Hero" monsters you control cannot be destroyed, and you take no Battle Damage when they battle. The ATK and DEF of this card are equal to the combined original ATK of all other "Destiny HERO" monsters you control.

Professor Hickok

Barrel Dragon - Lv 7, Dark Machine, 2600/2200

Once per turn, select 1 monster your opponent controls. Toss a coin 3 times, and if the result is 2 heads or more, destroy the selected monster.

_Nick Forbes has proven time and time again to be a top-notch duelist. Having even defeated the youngest Michaels brother, he might have what it takes to become the best. Catch the next chapter, Enter Kaiser Sebastian._


End file.
